So Fake it's Real
by Cymbala
Summary: It was at this moment that everything else came back to the blond. He’d forgotten they were in front of a public crowd. He’d forgotten that they were on stage. He’d forgotten that this was just a stunt. Rating may go up.
1. Phase One: Kiss Him on Stage

**A/N**: I know, I know, I've got plenty to update, but I really am excited about this idea (even though I have no idea where it's going to go…) and I'm going to try out this first chapter to see how it goes.

**Disclaimer**: Give me one good reason why I would be writing fanfictions if I owned Gravitation. Seriously, I would've made Hiro and K a couple LONG before the doujinshi came along.

And, here we go!

* * *

"Alright gentlemen. Thank you for coming. I'll try finishing this emergency meeting as soon as possible." Said Tohma as he settled himself behind his desk. Sakano and K, who were sitting in two chairs in front of the president, could tell that this was a serious issue. Sakano had the usual sweat dripping down the side of his head, which he wiped away every few minutes with a cloth, and K…well, K's mind continued to drift to another matter. 

Tohma kept his hands folded in front of his face as he watched Bad Luck's current manager fall off into his own thoughts. "K-san, I understand that the divorce was hard, but it was three months ago. You need to move on if you care at all about your job."

The blond jerked his head in his boss's direction. "Uh...I mean…Sorry about that sir."

It's true. K had been a bit of a mess since the divorce. It all started when K forgot their anniversary. He'd been in the middle of having coffee with Hiro when he got a phone call.

"Judy! What a nice surprise to hear from you!" he said happily. The grin plastered on his face began to dissipate after he received no response.

"…Hello? Judy? You still there?" he asked.

"You weren't expecting my call?" she asked suddenly.

"Well, no," K said, "Should I have been?"

There was an annoyed scoff from the other line. "I don't know K; do you KNOW how to read a calendar?"

"Of course I do! What does that have to do with anything?" he said angrily.

"It's our anniversary you moron!" she screamed. Then she hung up.

K felt like someone had dropped an anvil on his head. How could he have forgotten his anniversary? Hiro, who was concerned, asked what was wrong. K merely looked at him. "I forgot about my wife."

This was just the beginning. K started forgetting everything. Judy's birthday, Michael's birthday, congratulating her on her new films, and even just calling her to say hello. This all lead up to the phone call that happened four months ago.

Judy took this time to penalize him. She told him off for everything he'd done throughout their time together that had set her off, and when she was done, she revealed that she had filed for divorce. She was sick of K's forgetfulness and full lack of participation in their family. There was this, and the fact that Judy had started having an affair with the director of her most recent movie. All of these things pulled together brought the not-so-happy couple to divorce.

"Just try to focus your attention here from now on." Tohma said behind a smile. Both men knew however, that the smile was more than fake.

"Anyway, I have called this meeting of the three of us because there is a problem concerning Bad Luck."

Sakano and K's attention peaked at the mention of their favorite band with the ever-energetic Shuichi Shindo. Tohma pulled some papers out from a drawer in his desk. He turned them around and slid them over the desk surface to the others.

"These charts reveal very unsettling information. Bad Luck's popularity is dropping, and we're not sure of the cause."

The men observed the chart. It was true. The popularity of the band had dropped from the top of the charts to far down the middle in merely a month. As Sakano proceeded to pick up the papers, K turned back to the president. "What are we going to do about this, sir?" he asked.

For some reason, Tohma gave a K a sweet smile. Translation: 'I have a plan that's going to involve you, and you're going to do it whether you like it or not.'

K retracted a little in fear. Sakano looked over to him, confused, then looked at the president.

"Oh."

Tohma reached into his desk again, pulling out more research charts. "These charts show when Bad Luck became most popular. Notice anything strange about the dates?" he asked, giving the men the papers. Sakano looked over it once and found nothing. He handed it to K, who did the same. He however, found the answer.

"This was just round the time that Yuki revealed his relationship with Shuichi on T.V."

"Bingo." Said Seguchi. He stood up from his desk, put his hands behind his back, and began to pace around the room. K and Sakano' eyes followed him. "Yuki and Shuichi's romance was the band's biggest selling point. After that broadcast, sales rates and popularity shot to the top."

The president stopped and turned to the men. "Obviously, to regain what we lost, we'll have to recreate that kind of situation. Look at the other paper behind the one Sakano is holding."

Sakano found the second piece of parchment behind the first. He put it on top and reviewed it.

"A member popularity poll?"

"Not just any popularity poll. A sex appeal poll." Tohma corrected. "We've been holding this on the internet for the past few weeks, and as you can see, we've gotten some very interesting results."

K snatched the paper from Sakano. "…Hiroshi?"

"The one and only." Said their boss. "We need to get our audience back, and the best way to do that is use our most appealing member."

Sakano weakly raised his hand. Tohma nodded in his direction, granting him permission to speak.

"With all due respect sir, this plan isn't going to work. Hiroshi isn't gay."

A small laugh escaped the president. "We know that. But the fans don't. It's just going to be an act. Once we get back what we need, we just have to make up a few more stories about Hiro breaking up with him, and boom, we've got the fans hooked again."

K put his arm around the back of his chair. "I feel bad for the poor sap that has to be part of this plan." He said aloud to himself. A giggle from Tohma caused an uncomfortable lump to form in his throat.

"Well K-san," he said, revealing a 100 yen coin in his hand, "you better guess right, or else you'll be the poor sap of which you speak.

Sakano and K sat there, awestruck. It was going to be one of THEM?? "Please, Shacho," Sakano pleaded, "you can't be serious…"

"Oh, but I am, Sakano-san. Obviously, I can't do anything that my potentially hurt my reputation as the president of N-G, which leaves it to the both of you as our only candidates. Now…" he held the coin between his index finder and thumb, "Who calls heads?"

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"Alright, we are so ready for that concert tomorrow night!" Shuichi shouted. "I am completely pumped up! Let's go do a live concert on the street right now!"

"Hey, don't get over excited." Hiro warned. "Save that energy for tomorrow when we really need it."

"Hiroshi's right Shindo, save all of that good stuff for the gig." Said Suguru. Then he mumbled to himself "Because God forbid you run out of energy and give us all a little rest."

Hiroshi finished packing his music and guitar into his case before slinging it over his back. "Well, I'm heading home. Shuichi, care to join me?"

The vocalist nodded in Hiro's direction. The red head then looked to Suguru, who shook his head no. "I want to work on some new scores I've been trying out. You guys go. It'll be easier to get things done if I'm by myself."

Hiroshi and Shuichi shrugged as they exited the recording room. AS the made their way to the elevator, Hiroshi shook his arm out before looking at his wristwatch. "Wow. K's been in that meeting for an hour now. I hope everything's going alright."

Shuichi's ever reoccurring sly smile crept its way onto his face. "K and Hiro sitting in a tree…"

The guitarist shoved Shuichi in the shoulder. "Shut up Shuichi."

Hiro's shove did nothing to stop him. "But why Hiroshi? I mean it's so obvious that you love…"

Hiro glared menacingly at the singer. It was a glare powerful enough to take down even the toughest man. However, Shuichi was not intimidated in the least by this look. After all, this was a one in a lifetime chance to poke a little fun at Hiro's love life.

"Jeeze man, if you aren't in love with him, then why did you get so close to him?"

Hiroshi started to blush and looked away. He had started being with K more after the divorce was finalized. Even though K never asked directly, Hiro was the one who was there for K while he was putting the larger part of the ordeal behind him. He'd never once seen K cry, but he walked in on him being drunker than a pirate on more than one occasion.

When K had to leave for America to sign the final divorce papers, Hiro was the one who stayed at his house to watch Chuck.

Yes. In his depression, K felt it necessary to buy a fish and call it Chuck.

Short for Chuck Norris.

When Hiro had questioned why, K drunkenly pointed at him and said "Because Chuck Norris counted to infinity –hiccup- TWICE."

"Are you implying that I should be intimidated by your fish?"

Not paying attention, K recited another line. "When Chuck Norris gives you the middle finger -hiccup- it means you have one second left to live."

This was a battle Hiro decided was better left alone. After all, K was going through a rough time, and sometimes depressed people needed to turn to Walker- Texas Ranger for security.

Hiro had actually enjoyed helping K out of his misery, but after a couple of months, the blond had to put an end to it.

"Hiroshi," he said one day as the red head was feeding the fish, "Thank you so much for everything you've been doing for me. I really do appreciate it, but it has to stop."

Hiro looked over his shoulder as he was twisting on the cap to the fish food. "Are you sure K? I mean, I honestly don't mind. Chuck and I have really started to become friends too."

The corner of K's mouth turned up. "Be that as it may, Hiro, I can't have you taking care of me the rest of my life. I have to move on. I'm just going to have to get used to the feeling of not being married again. Plus, with you here doing everything for me, it almost feels like you're my new wife."

Strangely enough, Hiro was okay with that comment.

"You're positive you don't need me anymore?" Hiro cautioned.

K nodded. "I'm sure."

It was only a week after Hiro stopped visiting K that he felt alone. He missed going to the blonde's house and spending time with him. Hiro missed his company, and even the mere presence of K. Obviously at work he was fine, but when he got home at night, Hiro missed the feeling he got when he was needed at K's house.

Nakano pondered over this strange emptiness for the longest time, until all at once, it came to him. In the short time he'd spent with K, he'd fallen head over heels for him. And, as usual, Shuichi was the first one to figure it out.

And so, the taunting began.

"Hiiirooo…" Shuichi swooned mischievously, "Why are you blushing him? Could it be that I'm onto something?"

"Shuichi, shut up or I'll tell Yuki you take pictures of him while he's sleeping."

Shuichi was silent the rest of the way.

When they finally did get to Hiroshi's home, Shuichi headed straight to the fridge to get some beers. "We're gonna celebrate! To our first concert in a month!" He said, raising a can.

Hiro laughed as he put his case down and hopped into his computer chair and started up the internet. He then reached over to his radio and turned it on. "Shuichi, it's not our concert. We're the opening band, remember?"

Shuichi chugged a good half of his can. "What? Oh yeah. What group were we opening for again?"

"Asian Kung-Fu Generation. Remember?"

"Nope."

"Rewrite?"

"Nope."

"Haruka Kanata?"

"Nope."

"Kimi to iu Hana?"

"Did you ever try to crush a beer can on your head? I've seen other people do it, but I can't seem to…"

"Shuichi, you don't know _any_ of those song titles?" Hiro asked.

"What song titles?"

"Do you even care about the other band?"

"No." Shuichi said confidently before crushing the metal cylinder in his hand. "Because Bad Luck is going to be the best. It's the only band on my mind, and soon, it'll be the only one on everyone else's too."

Hiro snickered to himself. 'One track mind as usual, eh, Shuichi?' he thought.

The guitarist turned his attention back to his computer. The internet page had opened to the Bad Luck website, his home page, where there was a flashing at in the corner.

THE RESULTS ARE IN! THE RESULTS ARE IN! SEE WHICH MEMBER YOU VOTED HAD THE MOST SEX APPEAL!

Curiosity peaked; Hiro clicked the link, which brought him to a large bar graph. All three of the members' names were there, there own bar displaying their polls. Suguru had come in third with only a hundred votes, Shuichi had come in second with around three hundred votes, and in first place…

"What the…? Are you serious?!" Hiro said aloud. Shuichi came over to his side and glanced at the web page.

"Damn Hiro! How'd you get over five hundred votes? You beat me!"

Hiro was rubbing his forehead. He was smart enough to know that Tohma started this stupid poll, and no doubt, now every Bad Luck fan and their mother would be looking for him to do God knows what with him.

"Don't look like that!" Shuichi said. "You should be happy. It's official: To the female population of Japan, you're the sexiest member of our band."

Shuichi's sly smile returned.

"But, I guess if I was in your position, the only vote _I'd _care about would be the one from _K_."

"You really want to find out how to crush a beer can on your head?"

"Hey, listen! Asian Kung-Fu Generation's on the radio!"

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K paced backstage as Bad Luck finished getting ready. He still couldn't believe what was happening. How could this have happened? Why? Why him? Why did it have to be Hiro? Why, oh why did that coin land on heads?

_"Well then," said Tohma cheerfully, "I guess it's decided. K, you'll be in the faux relationship with Hiroshi._

_Sakano let out a sigh of relief. K just sat there, mouth agape, staring at where the coin had dropped and sealed his fate. The blond looked up at Tohma. "Sir, please. Hiroshi took care of me through most of the divorce, and if I do something like this now, he might take it the wrong way." _

_Tohma dismissed K's comment. "K-san, your assignment will begin at tomorrow's opening gig. After Bad Luck has played their set, during the applause, you will run out from stage right and kiss Hiroshi.__ The main band has already been told about what will happen, and they are fine with it.__ That will be part one of this plan."_

_K did a double take. "I HAVE TO DO __?!?"_

_"Kiss him. Is that so hard?" _

_"No, sir…but…what will Hiro think of this?" _

_Something clicked in Tohma's mind. "Oh, I almost forgot." He pointed at K. "You are not to tell Hiroshi of this little trick we're playing on the public. His innocence is a key factor in this operation.__" _

_K was about to protest again, but Sakano beat him to it. "But Shacho, what if Hiroshi reacts negatively to this?" he asked._

_"Only then will we tell him what's going on. We'll lose some selling edge because Hiro will know he's acting, but we'll still get what we need. However, as long as he stays comfortable with this situation, it's K's job to milk this for all it's worth."_

_K ran his hands through his hair. What the hell was happening? _

_"If I may ask sir," said Sakano, "Why is Hiro's 'innocence' such a big selling point?"_

_The president snickered. "Because my dear Sakano, Hiroshi is what we would classify as a 'seme', and as such, fan girls will find nothing more appealing then having their 'seme' turn 'uke'."_

_"How do you plan on turning him into an uke?" asked Sakano._

_"It's not my job." Tohma said. He looked over to K, who was still taking this all in. "It's K-san's."_

It was at that point that K dismissed himself from the meeting. He couldn't believe that he was really doing this. He didn't want to lie to Hiro, but he also didn't want Bad Luck to tank, just because he couldn't get through a little publicity stunt.

K rocked back and forth from his toe to his heels, waiting for the band to come out.After their final number was when he had to do the evil deed. He took a look at the set up chart. So it was right after they finished 'Spicy Marmalade'.

Back in the dressing room, Bad Luck was just about ready, and it was almost time to go on. Shuichi, of course, was as energetic as always, trying to psych the other two for the concert they'd be giving in a few mere minutes. Hiro's mind was elsewhere.

'I'm getting a bad feeling about tonight.' He thought to himself, 'I can't stop thinking that something weird is going to happen.'

There was a knock on the door. "Alright guys," said the stage hand, "It's time to come on out. The crowd is waiting for you!"

Shuichi looked over to his fellow band mates and nodded. "Let's make this a great performance guys."

The others smiled and followed their fearless leader out the door.

When they passed through backstage, they were greeted by K. "Okay guys, just do your best. And if you don't, you can practice for an extra ten hours tomorrow while I hold a gun to each one of your heads." He said all this with his trademark grin on his features.

"But K, you only have two hands…" Shuichi pointed out.

K glared at him. "Is that a challenge, Shindo-san?"

Shuichi shakily shook his head 'no'.

"Well then! Break a leg out there!"

Bad Luck quickly made its way onto the stage. As the crowd went wild, Shuichi took the liberty of introducing the band. Hiro put his head and arm through the guitar strap. 'I'm probably just nervous since this our first concert in a while.' He reassured himself. 'Everything will be fine. After all, with Shuichi here, how could it not be a fun concert?'

"…so let's get this party started! You've probably all heard this song, but one more time won't kill ya! Get ready for…The Rage Beat!"

Just as Hiro predicted, everything went fine with The Rage Beat. And, everything continued to go well with Break Through, Smashing Blue, Blind Game Again, Glaring Dream, No Style, and Fake Star. Finally, it was time for the last song of the night: Spicy Marmalade.

"You guys have been a great crowd!" shouted Shuichi into the microphone. The audience, in reaction the compliment, began to scream and holler.

"Hey! You'll have to save some of that for the real band…um…who are they again?"

Everyone broke out into a fit of laughter, even though Shuichi was being completely serious. "Anyway, we're gonna play one more song for you, and then we're out! Does that work for you?"

More screams and swoons from the fans. Shuichi looked back to the other members and nodded. When they nodded back, Shuichi said one more thing as the intro came on.

"Alright then! Let's do it!"

As Shuichi began to sing, Hiroshi felt a sigh of relief escape him. Nothing had gone wrong, and they had given a great performance. His stage fright had now subsided as he realized that all the fear he had had at the beginning of the show had been nothing but speculation. What could go wrong now?

K, who standing at stage right, behind the curtains, gulped hard, trying to calm the butterflies in his stomach. The song was already half over. Soon, he'd have to run out on stage and kiss Bad Luck's guitarist. 'Damn it all…' K thought, 'What will Hiro think of me? He's going think I'm some sort of pervert, or that I'm just horny after all that's happened, or…'

K shook his head. Now was not the time to be thinking about this. Shuichi had hit the last chorus, and the moment of truth was now upon him. He got ready to make his way on stage as Suguru and Hiro began the last part of the song.

The blond had been unable to keep his eyes off of Hiro throughout the show, just contemplating what was going to happen, but now, only at the end did he notice how wonderful Hiro looked strumming his fingers over the string of his guitar, his hair bouncing ever so slightly. The way that the little bit of sweat that caressed his temple slowly slid down his cheek…

K was starting to see why Hiroshi received the most votes in the poll.

And just like that, the song ended, and the people in the audience went crazy. There was clapping, whistling, screaming and just about every noise in between. As Bad Luck started to wave and thank their listeners, K took a final deep breath.

'Well…here goes nothing.'

Hiro smiled coolly as he waved to the screaming crowd in front of him. They had every reason to be cheering. That was one of Bad Luck's best sets in a while. That, and the band had played wonderfully. Finally, Hiroshi felt like he could put his mind at ease.

'Thank God,' he thought, 'I knew there was nothing to be…what's K doing on stage?'

Hiro watched as the blond quickly walked towards him. For some reason, K had a prominent blush on his face.

"K, why are you over here?" Hiroshi yelled over the screaming. K must not have heard him because he didn't answer, nor did he stray from his path. Before Hiroshi could really process what was happening, K came up to his and turned the guitarist's body, placing his hands on his shoulders.

"Woah, K, what's going-!"

At first, Hiroshi had no idea what was going on. He had no clue what he should do with this new sensation gracing his lips. He heard multiple gasps coming from the crowd, followed by the clicking of cameras. Out of the corner of his eye, Hiroshi saw Shuichi and Suguru turn around and look at him.

Caught in the moment, he put his arms around K's neck and slowly shut his eyes. While he may have looked calm and composed on the outside, in his mind, Hiroshi's mind was caught in a storm of confusion, originating from one thought.

WHY THE HELL WAS K KISSING HIM ON STAGE???

**A/N**: And that's all for now I suppose. This chapter may have been a little boring, and I guess that's a bad thing for a first chapter XD But I promise, things will pick up later, and they will get interesting (and of course, there will be plenty of Kiro-ness to be had)

I've been working on a different HiroxK fic, but I think I've accidentally overpowered it with YukixShu, so yet again, my goal is that by the end of this fic, You'll be a HiroxK lover, supporter, writer, whatever you want to call it.

Anyway, if you really liked the story, please review! I'd like 10 reviews before I continue if that's alright! Thanks in advance!

Hugs, hearts and all that,

SK


	2. Phase Two: Make Him Like You Again

**A/N**: Thanks for the great response for the first chapter everybody! I was a little scared at first when I saw that there weren't that many hits, but you made up for it in reviews! Weeee happiness!!!!

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Gravitation, or…like anything of true importance…OMG I'm watchin the pokemon movie XD (random, I know, but it's true)

And, here we go!

* * *

"You did wonderfully K!" Seguchi said euphorically into the phone. "Our little stunt is all over the news! I've already found the story on three different news shows, and it's plastered on every music program! Bad Luck's fanbase is going to shoot through the roof!" 

K pinched his sinuses as he let out a sigh. "With all due respect sir, shut up."

Tohma laughed on the other side of the line, which made K want to shoot him. "No matter what you say K, what's done is done, and now it's time for part two of our little scheme."

"Tohma, this is _your_ scheme, not mine. I wanted nothing to do with this." K said curtly. The president snickered and couldn't help but reply "Oh really, K? Because from the pictures on the news, it looks to me like you enjoyed it _thoroughly_."

K's cheeks turned red. He suddenly felt flashes from the previous night rush back into his head.

_A deep redness engulfing his features, K strut out onto the stage at a quickened pace. He wanted both Hiro's embarrassment and his own to start quickly and end quickly. He watched the guitarist wave to the fans, then out of the side of his eye, noticed K coming towards him. _

_"K, why are you over here?" he yelled. _

_The blond repressed the urge to speak. What could he say in this situation? 'Pucker up'? Yeah, that would be the day. K arrived beside Hiroshi, and quickly turned his body to face him. Placing his hands on Hiro's shoulders, K looked at him for only a moment._

_"__Woah__, K, what's going-!"_

_The manager didn't give the younger boy time to finish his sentence. He quickly crashed his lips onto Hiro's. He'd shut his eyes immediately, too embarrassed to see Hiro's reaction. _

_K listened to the gasps coming from the crowd. The gasps soon turned into loud clicking __of cameras __and even louder cheering. __Mostly of course, female cheering.__ He felt his blush darken. _

_'Hiro, please forgive…what the…?'_

_K was taken by surprise as Hiroshi not only wrapped his arms around his neck, but even pulled the blond closer into him. The more Hiro deepened the kiss, the more comfortable with the situation K became. He moved his hands from the younger boy's shoulders and wrapped them around Hiro's back, reeling him in as close as possible, the guitar still in the way. _

_Somewhere in the background, K heard Shuichi yell 'WAY TO GO GUYS!', but in all honesty, he was losing sense of everything on the outside world. A__ll that seemed to matter__ was Hiro. The __blond's__ tongue skillfully pleaded for entrance into Hiro's mouth, and the redhead was more than happy to comply. K lost all sense of time while in the embrace. He felt himself shiver as Hiro moaned longingly into his mouth. _

_K's eyes suddenly shot open. This was going too far. He pulled away as rapidly as he'd begun. He felt a sense of loss when he parted from the other boy's warm lips. It took a minute for Hiro to realize that the kiss was over, but when he did, he looked into K's eyes and quickly turned red._

_"K…I…__wha__…" Hiro stuttered. K could feel him start to shake in his arms. It was at this moment that everything else came back to the older man. He'd forgotten they were in front of a public crowd. He'd forgotten that they were on stage. He'd __forgotten that this was just a stunt. K watched as the expression on Hiro's face changed from confused to anger._

_'Oh no…'_

_Hiro suddenly pushed K off of him and unhooked his guitar from the speakers, a scowl on his face._

_"Hiroshi, wait I…"_

_"I don't want to hear it."Hiro shot. He rushed off stage, enraged, closely followed by Shuichi and __Suguru_

"The point is, now Hiro's pissed at me. Your stupid plan is already falling apart." K said.

Tohma took a sip from his wine glass. "Well K, that's not my fault, is it?"

"What are you talking about? You're the one who told me I had to kiss him!"

"But I never said you had to eat his face! A simple kiss on the cheek, or just a peck on the lips would have sufficed. You're the one who decided the French way was the best way."

Blushing more profusely than ever, K kept quiet.

"Anyway, now that the first part of our operation has been completed, it's time to move onto phase two."

K jumped in his chair. If the first step was getting Hiro to hate him for the rest of his life, how much worse could it possibly get?

"Do I even want to know what you want me to do, Tohma?" he asked, rubbing his head. The president snickered from the other side of the line.

"Don't say it like that Claude. This part is easy. All this phase calls for is you getting Hiro to like you again. He looked pretty pissed after you guys parted mouths. I don't care how you do it, just get it done. Can you do that?"

"Fine. And don't call me Claude. It really pisses me off."

"Really? Because I remember asking Judy about that, and she told me that you used to love it when she'd say your real name during…"

K slammed the phone back on the base. He stood up sharply and stomped to the bathroom. He slammed the door as he entered the room and threw on the faucet. Taking the water that was rushing out into his cupped hands, he splashed it on his face. His blush hadn't subsided in the least. What the hell was he doing? Why was he doing this? Hiro had taken such good care of him during his time of need, and now K was paying him back by messing with his feelings.

He braced himself by grabbing both side rims of the sink. Little droplets of water fell from his face. This wasn't right. Hiro was his friend, and there was no way in hell that he was going to risk what they had for something that wasn't even real.

K started massaging his eyes with one hand. What could he do? He couldn't tell Hiro the truth, after all, his orders said not to, but not telling Hiro meant lying to his best friend.

Still caressing his eyes, K made his way to the front door. He needed to think. Whenever he needed to do any kind of thinking, K always went for a walk. Taking a deep breath, he opened the door of his home and stepped out.

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"Can you believe him?! I mean, he just waltzed on stage and started to kiss me! What the hell is wrong with him? Why would he do that in front of an audience? On a stage no less! Is he insane? We were on _five_ different channels this morning! _FIVE!_"

"Hiro, that's all well and good, but could you stop pacing please? You're making me dizzy."

Hiroshi glared back at Shuichi, who was currently looking disoriented as he sat on his bed. "Are you even listening to me?" he asked curtly.

"Yes! And all I'm hearing is you bitch and moan that the guy you're madly in love with basically confessed to you in front of a live audience. If Yuki did that for me, I'd have us naked and on the floor in three seconds flat."

Hiro scoffed and rolled his eyes. "I'm not madly in love with him."

"Really? Because those five channels you found beg to differ." Shuichi shot back.

Unable to think of a comeback, Hiro merely clenched his teeth and turned away, eyebrow twitching and his cheeks becoming redder by the second. Shuichi laughed and threw a pillow at the guitarist. He shot around and glared at his best friend.

"Hiro, you're so obvious. Just give up. I know you love him, you know you love him, and as of eight-thirty this morning, all of Japan knows you love him. What the hell is holding you back?"

The red head crossed his arms and looked off to his side. Shuichi stood up from the bed and wrapped his arms around Hiro from behind. "You can't play the 'I don't know if he likes me' card anymore Hiro. Last night proves it. This is what you wanted isn't it? You've been miserable ever since he 'kicked' you out of his house. Now, he's inviting you back in, and you're going to let the opportunity slip through your fingers. How can you do that?"

Hiro had no idea Shuichi could be so knowledgeable. "And when exactly did you become an expert?" he asked. Shuichi smiled into his friend's back and turned him around to face him.

"Because I know what it's like when you take love's opportunity by the balls."

Hiro watched Shuichi carefully. The boy had a calm smile on his face. He shook his head a little and pat the redhead on the shoulder. "What else do you need from him to prove that he loves you?"

He pushed passed Hiro and headed towards the kitchen. Hiro stood there for a minute before taking a seat on his bed. He laced his hands together and rested his head on them.

What was holding him back? He was still in awe that K had taken such an exaggerated form of action. Hell, he was still in awe that K even felt the same way about him. But something about it bothered him. He didn't quite understand it, but Hiro knew that something was wrong. It just didn't make sense. Why would K suddenly come out of nowhere and suddenly express his feelings? There had been no warning, no hints that he felt anything for Hiro. Something just seemed off.

'I just don't get it.' He thought to himself. 'I wish there was a way that I could test him, make sure that he kissed me because he really…'

The word 'kissed' brought back the previous night's events flowing back into his head. Hiro's face became flushed, and he could feel his heartbeat increase ten fold. This all of course, happened as soon as Shuichi came back from the kitchen.

"Hiro! Honestly, I support you and K, but don't have those kinds of thoughts while I'm in your house! For God's sakes!" he played.

Hiro grabbed a nearby pillow and threw it at his best friend, missing him only because the vocalist moved ever so slightly to the right just before impact. "Ooo, fear the fluffy softness." Shuichi continued. Hiroshi scowled and looked away.

The pink haired man twisted the top off of the soda he'd taken from the fridge. He took a drink as he made his way to Hiro's side and sat on the bed. "Why don't you go to his place and tell him straight out? It can't hurt, right?"

The guitarist was still for a while before he lowered his head. He knew that eventually, whether by accident or off of his own will, Hiro would have to confess to K that he was in love with him, though he hadn't expected he'd have to it so soon. He felt a hand on his back, and turned to look at Shuichi.

"He's still home y'know. He always spends the day after a concert at home. You know where he lives."

Hiro looked at the floor, then back at Shuichi. "Yeah, I know. I'm going."

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This was ridiculous. How could K have been so stupid? Obviously, there were times where he could be and air head, but even a six year old could have figured this out. He didn't have his sunglasses, a coat, or anything to disguise himself at all.

Rule number one of performing a publicity stunt.

Do not go outside the next day. YOU. WILL. BE. CHASED.

You'd think that after being a band manager for ten years, K would've learned this rule. However, K had never been the fastest bullet out of a gun.

_K walked down the street from his city home, picking out a cigarette from his pocket. He placed it in his mouth, __then__ started to fish through his pockets again for his lighter. K wasn't a chain smoker, but an occasional cigarette did find its way into his mouth. _

_He ran his thumb over the little wheel, causing a spark and starting a small fire. K lit the little stick in his mouth. _

_'Hiro, Hiro, Hiro…' he thought, 'we've got quite the problem on our hands, don't we? I guess since I started it, I'll have to fix it…' _

_But wait…this wasn't K's fault! It was that stupid coin, and that stupid poll that had put them in this situation. In fact, it was Hiro's fault more than anything! After all, it was Hiro who'd won the popularity vote!_

_K mentally smacked himself. He wasn't out trying to prove __who's__ fault it was, he was there to figure out a way to solve the problem, or at least make it better for the both of them. Hiro couldn't have enjoyed last night's public embarrassment. __Even if that kiss had been beyond unbelievable.__ He must've been wearing some flavored chap stick or something because he tasted…_

_…_

_K decided a physical slap would do the trick this time. A few of the other people on the sidewalk looked at him awkwardly. K ignored them as he tried to keep his thoughts straight. _

_'K, what the hell are you thinking? Sure, the kiss was nice…great…__ama__-!'_

_"Oh…my…God…" said a female voice. A very strange feeling started to vibrate through K's body. Danger was near…very near. Shakily, he turned around to see two teenage girls. The first one had brown hair that was put up in a bun. She had crystal blue eyes that hid behind her glasses, unlike her friend. The other had no glasses, but she did have stunning green eyes and long black hair that went down to her back. K gulped hard as he figured out where the bad feeling had originated from. _

_Both girls were wearing 'Bad Luck' T-shirts._

_Oh joy. _

_'Calm down K. Maybe if you act like you have no idea what they're talking about…'_

_"OH MY GOD!__ YOU'RE K WINCHESTER, HIROSHI NAKANO'S LOVER!" they screamed at once. _

_The word 'lover' seemed to echo in K's ears._

_The screaming teens attracted a lot of turning heads, who also noticed that it was indeed K, the man who'd made out with Hiro at the concert. There were lots of whispers, followed by louder talking, and eventually more screaming._

_K watched as the circle of people formed around him. Why oh why did he leave his guns at home? _

_There was still a small gap that K could escape through. He made a run for it, and the crowd followed, yelling all sorts of things, like "K! How far have you and Hiro gotten?" and "Are you really in love with him, or is it just a crush?" or who could forget "K, were you Hiro's first?"_

And that's how K had ended up here, hiding in an alleyway, waiting for the hoard of people to go by. His heart was pounding as he prayed to every god he knew of asking that they wouldn't see him.

Someone must have been listening, because as the last fangirl passed him, K felt a sigh of relief take over him. He'd made it..all limbs still attached…more then 50 percent of his sanity remaining. He stepped out of the alley and looked around. The crowd wasn't far, and they'd already realized that K had escaped. Slowly, he crept out and started in the other direction.

BUMP

K stumbled backwards a bit. The force wasn't enough to push him over, but it was still hard enough. Quickly looking down to see what he collided with, K almost had a heart attack.

"…K?" Hiro asked from his spot on the ground. "K, is that you?"

K quickly pulled Hiro back up to his feet and told him to shush. "Keep your voice down! Otherwise they'll find…"

"THERE HE IS! AND LOOK! HIRO'S THERE TOO!"

K cringed as the screaming crowd began to make their way back to the blond and his partner. "Too late." K said sadly, "Let's get running!" He grabbed Hiro's hand and tried to scurry off, but was pulled back. Hiro wasn't budging.

"What the hell is wrong with you? Let's go before they make us into some 18 and up doujinshi!"

Hiro scoffed. "Let 'em. Just follow my lead."

Confused, K did as he was told and stayed put, as the insane group of people continued to charge at them. K couldn't help but close his eyes. He didn't want to watch.

"K-kun, why are these people chasing us?" Hiro asked in the most innocent voice K had ever heard. K cracked open one eye to see that the whole crowd had stopped, and was now watching him eagerly for an answer. K was caught in shock, and couldn't move. Hiro decided to fix this by quickly kicking him in the shin. The manager cried out in pain as Hiro repeated himself through clenched teeth.

"Well K? What's going on?" he said.

It took a minute for Hiro's plan to sink in. But when K got it, he_ got it_. A smirk danced across his features as he ever so skillfully grabbed Hiro from behind, wrapped his arms around his waist, and rested his head on Hiro's shoulder.

"Can't you tell, Hiro-chan? They're chasing us because they support our love." He lifted Hiro's shirt ever so slightly and rested his hand on Hiro's stomach. The redhead quickly became flushed. "Doesn't that make you happy?" K added, now tracing circles around the boy's belly button. Hiro moaned a little by accident, and quickly covered his mouth. The blond felt the vibration of Hiro's voice travel up and down his body. It actually felt pretty good.

The crowd went wild.

The blond caught Hiro glance at him, annoyance in his eyes. They seemed to say 'Overboard much?' However, the look didn't last long, because the audience was awaiting Hiro's response. "Of…of course it makes me happy, K-kun!" he said quickly.

K turned his head and buried his nose in Hiro's hair, taking a long whiff. 'I'll show you overboard.' He thought.

"Really?" he said. He removed his face from Hiro's hair and instead started to kiss behind his ear, kissing a line from there all the way down Hiro's neck. Shivers traveled through Hiro's spine, another moan escaping him. He didn't bother to try and hide this one. Almost as soon as K finished his next sentence, he felt Hiro go weak. "We should celebrate then. My house is close by…Maybe today's the day I finally get you between the sheets…"

There were screams louder than an atom bomb emitting from some of the girls' throats, and even a few guys. Many awkward coughs followed.

Before the screaming died down, Hiro said to K in English "This is good! We just need to push a little more!"

K nodded, and took this as meaning 'Just keep doing what you're doing'.However, it was Hiro's turn to speak. When the crowd was listening again, his blush darkened, and Hiro whispered into K's ear, just loud enough for the others to hear. "But K…I've never done it before…I'm scared…"

K smiled and kissed Hiroshi's cheek. "Don't worry, Hiro-chan. I'll take good care of you," he traced a line from Hiro's chest, down his torso, "but you'll have to forgive me in advance if I can't hold myself back. You've kept that sexy body of yours hidden from me for so long…"

Eight women fainted.

"But K…I don't want everyone following us!" He looked to the audience, his eyes actually starting to water. "Please everyone…leave us alone?"

No sooner had Hiro finished his sentence, the entire crowd of people cleared out. Only six of the recently unconscious were dragged away. They'd managed to wake up the other two. K would have been worried for those women, had they not been carried off by other women, and when the men tried to touch them, the women had beat them down.

The American stood there in awe. The crowd had just…left. No protest, no nothing.

"How did you…"

"Experience." Hiro said, removing himself from K's grip. "Shuichi and I used to do things like this all the time whenever we wanted a room to clear out for practice. Show the audience a steamy scene and they're like putty in your hands."

"But…" K protested. "Why'd they leave?"

"Were you listening to me? I said that I didn't want people following us. So, they left us to our crazy sex, and by tonight they'll be so many doujinshi about us, we'll have our own library."

"How…?"

"Little known fact about yaoi fans. **They all know each other. **I don't know how, and I don't want to know how, but in someway, they all seem to be able to come in contact with each other. All I know is that they seem to gain superhuman powers when they see two hot guys going at it. These powers include fast drawing hands, quick typing fingers, and the ability to communicate at the speed of light. Oh, and extremely loud screaming."

K simply watched Hiro give his little encyclopedia definition. He was the band manager! K was the one who should be giving the advice, not Hiro! He was embarrassed.

"Well then. Should we get going?" Hiro asked. He turned heel and started down the street.

"Wait…where are we going?" K asked, trying to yet again regain his thoughts. Hiro laughed and beckoned K to follow him.

"Your house of course. Let's go." Hiro said.

K watched Hiroshi carefully for minute.

"I just want to talk. Now c'mon."

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Once inside the house, Hiro seated himself on the brown sofa in the living room. A small coffee table sat in front of him, a cushiony chair that matched the couch on his right. The television was placed on the opposite wall, along with all its accessories, including a DVD player, a stereo, and a satellite box.

K's first floor apartment was about the size of Yuki's, so Hiro could only assume that K made a lot more money than he did. It had one bedroom, a bathroom, a kitchen, an office, and of course, the living room where Hiro was currently sitting.

He could feel his heart pounding as the moment of truth, literally, drew nearer. K, who had disappeared into the kitchen a moment before, returned, carrying two glasses of water. He handed one to Hiro, who thanked him, and joined him on the sofa.

Things were silent for a long time. Hiro could tell from the small clock on the wall that they had spent an entire fifteen minutes in silence. During this time, Hiro had been slowly drinking his water, knowing that he wouldn't have to speak every time he brought the glass back to his lips. Now, he was down to the last sip, and knew that after this, he'd have nothing left to distract him. He swallowed hard as he reached for his glass one last time.

Just as he was about to grab it, K grabbed his wrist instead. Hiro's head shot in the other man's direction.

"You said so yourself. We need to talk." The blond said firmly.

Most of the color drained from Hiro's face, and he swallowed again, his mouth completely dry.

"K, about last night…" he started, but K interrupted him.

"Hiro, I'm going to ask that you let me explain everything before you say anything, alright?"

K was staring straight into his eyes, and Hiro found it impossible to refuse. He'd always loved something about K's eyes, always so intense, so loyal, so strong. The guitarist nodded his head, and K smiled.

"Good boy." He said, patting Hiro on the head. The younger man scowled a bit.

"But all joking aside," he continued, the smile vanishing as quickly as it had arrived, "There is something important that you need to know about last night."

Hiro stared at K intently. The blond took a deep breath. "I kissed you for a reason Hiro, as you can probably imagine, and I'm…afraid to tell you that reason because I think you'll be upset with me."

Hiro felt his stomach start floating. Was K really about to confess to him right here, right now? It was almost too much for the red head to take in. K, who hadn't noticed the euphoria wafting off of Hiro, continued.

"I still think that my reason wasn't a good enough excuse to embarrass you like that, and I should have told you about all of this from the start. It isn't fair for me to lie to you. You shouldn't believe one thing, but then find out that it's not true."

'K, get on with it! If you don't I will! For goodness sakes, I love you too!' Hiro screamed in his head.

"Anyway, Hiro, what I'm trying to say to you is…" K said, turning the younger man towards him. He lovingly brushed some hair behind Hiro's ear. Hiro blushed. Here they came! Those magical five words that would send him to heaven forever! Five little words! 'Say, 'I'm in love with you!' c'mon, say it!' Hiro's mind pleaded.

K started right into Hiro's eyes. Hiro's expression had lifted greatly, though there was no smile, you could see in his eyes that he was awaiting something grand. Hiro heard the man gulp before a look of pain washed over his face.

"Hiro…" he started.

"Yeah??" Hiro said a little too eagerly.

"Last night…Last night was a stunt. I'm so sorry for anything I may have put you through." He said sadly. Somewhere along the way, K's gaze had left Hiro and had shifted to the floor.

Everything took a minute for Hiro to register. So K…wasn't in love with him…? A stunt? What the hell did he mean 'a stunt'?

"Wait…what?" Hiro said. His brain was in shambles.

"I mean…Bad Luck's popularity has been declining, so Tohma wanted to bring it back up by telling me to kiss you on stage. He knew it would get that tabloid's attention, and more people would focus on the band. He wants us to become the next hot thing so that Bad Luck can get all the attention it needs to make it back to the top of the charts. I'm sorry."

Any happiness that Hiro had, anything that gave him hope, seemed to drain away. It wasn't love…it wasn't any kind of affection…it was just…a show. He could feel his eyes starting to water. Hiro focused all his energy into keeping himself composed. There was no way in hell that he was going to cry. No way in hell that he was going to give himself away now. Even K could figure it out, that if h started crying now, that the kiss had meant something to him, or worse, that Hiro really did love him.

"It's…it's okay…" Hiro said to the blond. He was more say it to himself then K. K smiled anyway. He took Hiro into an embrace. This only made the guitarist's heart hurt more.

"You have no idea how much that means to me Hiro." He said, the happiness in his voice obvious, "I was afraid that now you wouldn't want to speak to me anymore. I was afraid that I'd lose the most important person in my life…"

A moment of glee filled Hiro. It was something, right?

K pulled away from Hiro. "Tomorrow I'll tell Tohma that you know everything, and I'll tell him that we don't want any part of this."

And idea flew into Hiro's head. Of course! It was perfect! He felt his heart mending inside of him. Of course, this wouldn't be exactly what he wanted, but if this was as close as he could get to K, then damnit he was going to try!

"Don't do that!" Hiro said.

K raised an eyebrow. "Say what?"

"I mean…the band! If we stop now, then we'll never get enough coverage from the band! We can't do that! We have to keep this up until we're back in the top spot." He said, a little shaky in the beginning.

K looked at Hiro as though he was crazy. "Are you serious?" he said, feeling Hiro's head for a temperature, "You'd be willing to keep this up?"

The guitarist nodded his head slowly. "I…I don't mind."

K watched Hiro's face carefully, examining it for any trace of doubt or concern. Hiro kept his expression the same. It was screaming 'I'm sure that this is what I want.' The blond sighed. "Well, the only reason I was against it in the first place was because I thought you wouldn't approve, so I guess I don't mind either."

Hiro couldn't help but smile. "Then it's settled." He said happily. "We're officially a fake couple." He stuck out his hand for K to shake. The older man laughed and shook Hiro's hand.

"Alright, now what do you want to you?" K asked.

"Well, I think I'll head home and work on that new single we're releasing in a couple weeks. I want to try a new melody for the second verse." Actually, Hiro wanted to head home and talk to Shuichi. Yuki was out of town right now, so Shuichi had been staying at Hiro's house.

"Sounds good. I'll walk you out. Call Shuichi to come get you though. I don't want you getting mauled while walking home."

One call and ten minutes later, Shuichi was sitting outside, waiting for Hiro to come down. Shuichi called Hiro again to let him know that he was there.

"Yeah, I'm on my way out." Hiroshi said into his phone. He pressed the red phone button to end the call before putting the device in his back pocket. "Shuichi's here." He said to K. The blond nodded and stood up, along with Hiro.

"I'll see you tomorrow at work I guess." Said Hiro as they exited his apartment and headed to the main hall. They stopped in front of the glass doors of the building. Hiro looked up at the blond, who, for an unknown reason, was starting to get a little color in his cheeks.

"Yeah." K said softly.

Hiro gave him one last smile and pushed open the door. No sooner had he set foot outside that K pulled him right back in and pushed him against the wall. "K, what the-"

K kissed him. Again. At first, Hiro had no idea how to react, just like the first time, but eventually became more comfortable and kissed him back. When K pulled away, he couldn't help but lick his lips.

"What was that for?" asked Hiro, touching his lips with his left index finger. K's blush had deepened, and he couldn't look Hiroshi in the eye.

"Someone might be watching us. I'm trying to make this whole act look as realistic as possible." He said. His voice wasn't all that confident.

"I don't understand." The guitarist said.

"You said you didn't mind going through with this." K said, looking at him through the corner of his eye, "And besides…" He turned his head to look at him fully. "…don't lovers usually part with a kiss goodbye?"

Hiro nodded obediently. His heart was going crazy. Completely red now, K pulled back entirely. "I'm sorry. It seemed like a good idea at the time." He laughed awkwardly and rubbed the back of his head.

"No, you're right…" said Hiro shakily, "just…just tell me next time."

K smiled apologetically as he opened the front door for Hiro. He laughed a little at K's action and thanked him. He stepped out and spotted Shuichi in Hiro's car. Before Hiro was too far away, K called to him.

"Hey, Hiro?" he asked. Hiroshi looked back over his shoulder. The blond wasn't looking at him again, instead it was the floor. He watched K shove his hands in his pockets. His redness had returned, with full force.

"What?" Hiro called back.

He watched K quickly lick his lips again. "I don't know what kind of chap-stick you've got on, but…keep using it, ok? It…tastes really good…"

Hiro raised his eyebrows. And then, he started to laugh. At first it was small, and then it grew louder. K became visibly annoyed.

"What? What's so funny?"

Hiro's laughter died down a little and he shook his head. "It's nothing!" he smiled. He gave K a final wave. "I'll see you tomorrow morning!"

The blond waved back and returned Hiro's smile, though his was much more awkward. The guitarist then turned and headed towards Shuichi and his car.

When he arrived, he got into the passenger's seat, next to a wildly grinning Shuichi. Normally, the guitarist would give him a good hit for looking like such an idiot, but right now, he was far too happy.

"That went well." Shuichi said as he started the car. The smile in his voice was far too evident. It was obvious that the singer had seen them kiss again. Once more, Hiro didn't strike him. They came to a red light and the car stopped. Shuichi put on his turn signal.

"You could say that." The red head replied.

"Sure lover boy. Whatever you say. Oh, by the way…" he said, making a turn as the traffic light turned green, "What did K yell to you about when you were walking to the car?"

Hiro smiled triumphantly. "He told me to keep wearing my chap-stick. That it tasted really good."

"But Hiro…you don't use chap-stick."

The guitarist giggled a little. "I know."

**A/N**: If I ever have to write this chapter again, I'm honestly going to have to hurt someone o.O. I've written three versions of this EVIL chapter, so I now command you, APPRECIATE IT! LOVE IT! WORSHIP IT! REVIEW IT!!!! T.T please…I'm a very tired little girl...tired of rethinking and rewriting this thing…be nice D: At least ten reviews please! Then I'll start work on the next one. Gaahh…must…sleep…(falls over on bed and sleeps)


	3. Phase Three: Ask Him Out

**A/N**: Did any of you guys notice how much the FMA character songs kick ass? I can't stop listening to them! Singing to self Ame no hi wa ureshii kedo noo sankyuu…

**Disclaimer:** hitting head on nearby wall I'm going to keep banging my head like this until I own Gravitation! continues to hit head until the neighbors call the cops and force her to stop without owning Gravitation

And, here we go!

"WHAT DID YOU SAY?" screamed Shuichi, choking on his new can of beer. Hiro, who had yet to open his, continued to stare at it as it sat on the table. He had a feeling that Shuichi, being the hopeless romantic that he was, wouldn't approve of Hiro's relationship with K.

"Shuichi, I know we're not like a regular couple," Hiro tried to explain, "But I still…"

"NOT THAT!" the singer yelled, "WHAT DO YOU MEAN BAD LUCK'S POPULARITY IS SLIPPING?"

"I know you wouldn't…wait what…?"

"NO TALKING!" Shuichi said, ripping a pen and paper out from Hiro's desk drawer, "WE MUST ACT ! Now, I'll get working on the lyrics, and Hiro; you know that new score that we've been working on? Play it back for me! I need progress reports! If we work hard enough, we can have a new single done in a day or so! Call Suguru and tell him to get his butt moving too! Now get to work! And someone get me some coffee! Can't you see how blatantly drained of energy I am? I need a pick-me-up, damnit!"

Hiro watched Shuichi blankly. "You done?"

"Not until we're the number one band in Japan I'm not. But, if you want to keep talking, I suppose I can allow you a five minute pardon."

"And no interruptions?"

"No promises."

Hiro sighed. He would take what he could get. "Like I was saying, _before_ you had your little meltdown," he glared small daggers at Shuichi, who merely shrugged, as though it couldn't be helped, "Because of the popularity issue, Tohma wants K and me to act like lovers."

Shuichi, who was trying to take another drink, choked on his beloved beer again. "Excuse me? I thought you were going over there to tell him you loved him!"

The guitarist massaged his left hand with his right and made a face that said 'I don't know what happened' "I was, but…he beat me to it, and he told me that he'd only been playing the part he was assigned to."

Shuichi grunted. "But that's not how a relationship is supposed to work! You asked him to call it off, right?"

The red head looked down. "…No…"

"Why?"

Hiro blushed a little. "I…well, what else was I supposed to do? If this is the only way I can get close to him…"

"But it's not real!" Shuichi protested.

"I know!" said Hiro shot, "…but…"

"But nothing! Hiro, why would you settle for something like this? You should have pushed forward! You should've pushed for more than some fake relationship!" Shuichi stood up, "You should've confessed!"

"You don't think I know that?" Hiro said, raising his voice, following the singer's lead by standing as well, "Shuichi, don't you get it? Now I'm hiding something even bigger from him! He thinks that everything I do from here on out is just a show! How the hell am I supposed to get my feelings across like that, huh? Should I just walk up to him when this whole thing is over and say 'Oh, by the by pal o' mine,'" He played, nudging an imaginary K in the ribs with his elbow, "'... just so you know, during this little act, whenever you kissed me, touched me, or even just barely let your breath caress my cheek, I wanted you to push me down and have me right then and there because I'm madly in love with you! Can't wait to see you tomorrow at work! Chao!'" He ended it with a salute on the 'chao'.

Hiro panted heavily. He had forgotten to take a breath during his little monologue. Shuichi, who was speechless for a few seconds, couldn't bring himself to look at his best friend. "Hiro I…I'm sorry…I'm just thinking about what's best for you."

The guitarist sighed heavily. He sat down again. "Yeah…I know."

Shuichi walked over and kneeled in front of him. Hiro met his eyes as the vocalist brushed his cheek with the backs of his fingers. "I just don't want you to get hurt. You've never been one to let your hurt show, but you know you can't hide from me. We've known each other too long."

Hiro lightly rustled Shuichi's hair. "It's true. You've always been the first one to figure out when I was upset. But Shuichi…I want to do this…" he said, looking into his friends eyes, "I know that it's going to kill me inside when the end comes, but I'm trying not to think about that at this moment. All I know is that, now, whenever K and I step out into public together, he loves me. I'll take that feeling for as long as I can get it."

The pink haired singer smiled sadly. He put his arms around Hiro and brought him into a hug. "You really love him, don't you?"

The guitarist felt as though his heart was stabbed by a knife. "More than anything."

Shuichi pat Hiro's back and released him from his embrace. "Alright." He said, defeated, "If this is what you think is best, then I'll go along with it." He grinned approvingly at Hiro, who returned the favor.

"Thanks, man." He said.

"Oh, but if K does anything to hurt you…" Shuichi said, his voice becoming darker by the word, "…I'm going to have to kill him."

Hiro raised his brow and began to laugh uncontrollably. He leaned back and rolled onto his side, holding his stomach. "Yeah," he said, tears running down his face, "Let me know how that goes!"

"Don't test me Hiro. I've been known to become dangerous." Shuichi said stealthily. The guitarist wiped some water from his eyes.

"Shuichi, please! You couldn't hurt-"

"Your five minutes are up! Back to work! Get your guitar! Man the keyboard! And for the love of all that is good and holy, whose ass do you have to bone to get a cup of espresso around here?"

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"I love you."

"Tohma, I thought I told you to shut up." K snapped. He glanced back at the television and cringed a little. Yet again, there he was, with Hiro, on the news. Of course, this time, it was on the evening news, not the morning news. Stupid fans with their stupid camera phones, and their stupid ideas to film him and Hiro and give it to the press.

"But K, you've done well beyond my wildest dreams!" he protested.

"It wasn't my idea." K said, "It was Hiro's."

There was a small pause.

"Have I mentioned that I love him?"

"Have I mentioned that I hate you?" He said, rubbing his head. K looked back to the TV, and sighed. The crowd had just gone into a fit of screams. Whoever filmed the footage wasn't too far from the front. They really had a good angle too.

"'Between the sheets'?" Tohma said, quoting the video from the news. The president sounded as though he was about to break out into a fit of laugher. K growled a little.

"I was just…" the American started.

"Please, don't say anything. I may laugh myself into a coma." Said Tohma, obviously trying to keep himself composed. He let out a long sigh, returning to his normal self, with an occasional snicker. "Anyway, it's obvious –snicker- you and Hiro have made up."

K stuttered a little. "Um…y-yeah!" he said. He didn't want to tell Seguchi that Hiro was now in on their little scam. After all, what Tohma didn't know, wouldn't hurt him. "He was actually pretty ok with it! I was surprised that he didn't react badly." This was true, because K was sure that Hiro had come over earlier to bite his head off.

"Good. That means it's time to move onto phase three!" the president said happily.

The eight women fainted on the news show. K blushed. He couldn't believe he'd said those things to Hiro. 'You've kept that sexy body of yours hidden from me for so long'? What the hell was he thinking? This wasn't to say that Hiro's body wasn't attractive; after all, K always found that Hiro had a nicely sculpted body. And these observations were from the outside only! Imagine what he'd look like…

"Oh God…bad thoughts…" K said, trying to rub the images of Hiro out of his mind. This was not the time to be thinking of Hiro's potentially hot body.

"Nonsense!" said Tohma, "This part doesn't call for bad thoughts either! Unless of course, you want it to…" he said slyly.

K had almost completely forgotten that he was on the phone. "Oh sorry sir, I didn't…what do you mean 'if I want it to'?" K asked cautiously.

"I mean…" the president said, "I want you to take him on a date."

The blond let out a small sigh of relief. A date wasn't that bad. Seguchi continued, "It doesn't really matter where you take him, just make sure it's on the weekend. I still expect you to get some work done during this little ordeal. Got it?"

K thought he was going to faint as the reporters mentioned something about Hiro's virginity. "Yeah, yeah, I got it."

"Oh, and K…" Tohma added.

"What?"

"Be careful."

K was confused. "Of what, sir?"

Tohma gave a low laugh. "Of falling in love with him of course."

"Pardon?" said the American. He started to turn a light shade of pink.

"I'm just saying that should you acquire…feelings…for Hiroshi, make sure that they're real, and not just an explosion of raw emotion that's been left over from the divorce."

"Tohma, I'm completely over Judy. You know that. She's not the reason I've been spacing out lately, I swear." K said, reassuring his boss. There was no way that he was going to tell Tohma that Hiro was what he'd been thinking about during those space outs. He'd never live it down.

"I didn't say you weren't over her K," said Seguchi, turning off his television. K heard a small 'click' as the device was silenced. "But it's usually times like this that any emotions people locked up, or tried to repress, come out. The first relationship after a divorce is the hardest one."

The American was a little stunned. Just what was he implying that K was going to do to Hiro?

"Thank you for the concern, sir." He said professionally.

"You're welcome. I'll see you tomorrow." The president replied. They both hung up their respective phones.

Even though the conversation was over, K's brain was just beginning to start up. What the hell did Tohma mean 'come out'? K didn't have any regrets about Judy! Not even about leaving Michael in her custody. It would've been too much to move him to a completely new country. Plus, K wasn't sure how often he could be home, or how he'd take care of him. Leaving his son with Judy was the best decision.

And he'd be damned before his emotions got the best of him and made him hurt Hiro. _Nothing_ was going to hurt him; not while K was still kicking. Or should we say, still _shooting_?

He sighed. 'Well,' he thought, 'at least with Hiro being so close to me, maybe I'll stop zoning out at work.' Every time that that happened, K ended up thinking about the red headed guitarist and how much he missed having him at the house. Every night, when he came home, he felt like something was missing. And this feeling only appeared after he told Hiro to stop coming around.

He looked at the clock. It was still fairly early, but K was exhausted. It had been one rough day, and he was defiantly ready to hit the sack. He turned off the idiot box and threw the remote he was holding back on the sofa. Stretching a little, he made his way to his bedroom.

'A date…' he repeated tiredly in his head. 'Where the hell am I supposed to take him on a date?'

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Monday morning. Six forty-five.

"RISE AND SHINE HIRO, IT'S A BRAND NEW DAY!" K shouted happily as he slammed open Hiro's apartment door. The guitarist raised his head slowly, all the while praying to every deity he could imagine that he was still dreaming, and K wasn't standing in his doorway, coming to wake him up thirty minutes before his alarm clock was supposed to go off.

He turned his head back to face the American, who was happily making his way towards Hiro's bed. The guitarist quickly buried his head back into the pillow. "I'm not here." He said, his voice muffled by the fluff filled sac, "I've moved to Alaska for the next thirty minutes. Come back then!"

K gave a hearty laugh as he sat by Hiro's feet. "Then who's sleeping in Hiro's bed?" he said playfully. He took the ends of Hiro's sheets and pulled them right off of his body. The guitarist let out a cry as he was exposed to the cold air.

He shot into an upright position and shivered. He shot a death glare at K. "How did you even get in here?" he shouted. He expected K to give some reply involving a lock pick or destroying the lock with a gun.

But nothing came. K was too busy looking at Hiro's shirtless body.

Hiro didn't understand what K was doing until the blush appeared on his face. He watched K's eyes examine every feature of his torso. Quickly, Hiro pushed K's face away with an open palm in realization. "Can I help you with something?" he asked, irritated; mostly because the same shade of red was starting to appear on his face as well.

The blond shook Hiro's hand off and rapidly averted his eyes. "I…uh…I was coming to get you for work." He said.

"When have I ever been late to work?" Hiro snapped.

"…Never…" he said softly. "But I..."

"K, what did I say yesterday?" Hiro said in a reprimanding tone. "This is one of those things that you tell me about _before_ you do them."

"But that takes the fun out of things!" K pouted.

"No, that takes the heart attack out of things." Hiro corrected. He gave K a painful nudge in the shoulder. "Look, since I'm _up_," he glared, "I'm going to go take a shower and get ready for work. There's some stuff in the fridge if you want something. Please try not to destroy anything while I'm gone."

The blond nodded, still pouting, as Hiro rolled his eyes and stood up. He gave a little stretch before walking off to the bathroom.

The minute the guitarist was out of sight, K exhaled deeply, as though he'd been holding his breath. 'What the hell just happened to me?' he thought, resting his palm on his forehead. 'I was actually _staring _at him! Am I going insane?'

The American could feel the blush returning to his cheeks as he pictured Hiro's form again. It turns out Hiro _did _have a great body. He could feel his heart beating at an extraordinary pace, and even a small jolt run through his groin. These new feelings made his already dark shade of pink turn darker.

'Is he actually turning me _on_?' he said thought. He ran a hand through his hair as he threw himself back on the bed, lying on his back.

'Hiro…how are you doing this to me?' he asked his inner thoughts, almost blaming his best friend for K's new emotions. 'Are you doing it on purpose? Or are my feelings just going crazy?'

Even with the chaos that was swirling through K's head, he found comfort in burying his nose into Hiro's sheets. The scent filled him with a certain calmness, like a cool, crisp breeze running over your skin on a hot summer day, yet at the same time, it filled him completely, like there was no more room for anything else.

He closed his eyes and breathed in deeply, trying to take in every aspect of this wonderful smell. He clutched a small piece of fabric and brought it close to his nose. What was it about this aroma? It was just so…so…

"…Hiro…" K moaned in a small voice.

Of course, he knew what the smell was. It was some kind of mango-scented shampoo, he knew that much. It was the kind that Hiro had been using ever since the middle weeks into his caring for K.

_K turned the handle on the door and opened it slowly. He swayed through the entrance, drunk as sin, looking desperately for a place where he could lie down. Not even bothering to close the still opening door, K made a bee-line for the sofa. He plopped himself on it, face down, not really caring how uncomfortable it was squishing his nose into the couch, just happy that he finally had something soft to be on._

_From the living room, K could hear water running from the kitchen. Hiro was here again, what else was new? Every night, he came home to the boy doing some sort of household chore for him. He was going to have to thank him somehow._

_The faucet was suddenly silenced as Hiro came out to see him. The blond heard the footsteps coming towards him, wanting to kill himself every time he heard Hiro's steps colliding with the hardwood floor. Why the hell was everything so loud? _

_"Oh K…" Hiro said disapprovingly. K felt the guitarist sit next to him on the edge of the couch. The red head then proceeded to rub his back. "You've got to stop coming home like this. You're going to kill yourself." _

_The blond didn't give an answer. He heard Hiro sigh. "Alright. C'mon, stand up. Let's get you to the bedroom." _

_K groaned at the prospect of getting up again. With a little force from Hiro, though, he was on his feet in no time. _

_Taking an arm around his neck, Hiro managed to support K and start to walk him down the hall to the bedroom. _

_The American was honestly not sure he was going to make it. Everything was spinning. First it spun one way, then suddenly, it would change directions. All objects were doubled, and he could've sworn that all the colors on his walls and hallway possessions were starting to blend together. _

_Without meaning to, K accidentally dropped his head to the side and landed his nose in Hiro's hair. The sudden weight shift was enough to make Hiro stumble. "Hey!" he exclaimed. _

_"Wha? Oh s'rry Hiro…" K said, slurring his words. He was about to bring his head back, but not before taking in the scent of Hiro's hair."Wow, you're head smells great…" he said._

_"Really?" Hiro asked. "I'm trying out a new shampoo for my hair. It's pretty hard to take care of long hair, though I guess you know plenty about that. It's supposed to make it easier to comb and softer and stuff like that."_

_K finally brought his head back as they entered the bedroom and Hiro helped place the American in the bed._

_"Keep using it…" K said as he got under the covers, fully clothed. "That smell…that smell really…y'know, fits you…" he said. _

_Being as tired as he was, K hadn't noticed the small blush that came over Hiro's features. _

_"Really?" he asked. _

_K, who was already starting to close his eyes, peeked one open and glanced at Hiro again. "Yeah sure…what I said…" _

_Hiro giggled a little as K went back to trying to sleep. "Alright. I'll keep it."_

"Um…K? What are you doing to my bed?" asked a fully clothed and ready to go Hiro.

The blond jolted up from his cozy fetal position spot on the bed into an upright stage. He looked at the younger man and grinned awkwardly. "H-Hiro!" he stuttered, "What's with the short shower?"

The guitarist threw a confused look in his direction. "K, I've been in the shower for twenty minutes. Did you fall asleep or something?"

K quickly looked over to Hiro's digital clock. He wasn't lying; it really had been about twenty minutes since the red head had left the room. "I…I guess I did." He said keeping himself from falling back by resting on his arm.

Hiro looked down at the manager's hand. "Why are you messing up my sheets?" he scolded, pointing to the tightened fist that was groping his bedding. K blushed and immediately released it.

"I was just…uh…um…" he tried. The younger man sighed and offered K a hand.

"Whatever. I can fix them later. Now c'mon. You didn't wake me up this early so we could sit around, did you?"

The blond looked up at Hiro and slowly grabbed his hand. He pulled K up to his feet and smiled. "So, do you want to get some coffee or something before we get to work?" he asked.

Still pink, the blond shook his head no. The guitarist shrugged a little as he reached for his house keys that were sitting on his night table. He shoved them into his pocket and made his way to the door. K hadn't moved.

'What the hell is wrong with me? This is Hiro! Just Hiro!'

The guitarist laughed a little as he turned the handle. "Well, are you coming or not?"

Shaken, K quickly came back to earth. "Uh, yeah! Sorry." He said, rushing to meet up with Hiro at the door. He smiled again as he led them outside.

'I'm still a little tired.' K said to himself as he watched Hiro lock up the apartment. 'That's why I'm feeling so strange.'

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"Oh God…I think my fingers are going to fall off…" Hiro said as he painfully flexed the throbbing appendages. As if having K come and get him early every morning wasn't enough, Shuichi had been working them to the bone for the past three days, though to Hiro and Suguru if felt more like a month. Every day, they would walk into the recording room to find Shuichi either scribbling new lyrics on a piece of paper, or humming notes to himself trying to figure out which melody would work best.

'He can't keep coming in so early…' Hiro sighed. The first time Shuichi said he was going in early, Hiro had brushed it off as a joke. That is, until he came in and found Shuichi working at twenty times the normal speed. He'd booked them for so many different things in three days, Hiro was sure that Shuichi was somehow bending the fabric of time.

Suguru, who was exhausted, took a seat in a nearby chair and panted heavily."Shuichi…" he pleaded, "Can we have a break? I never ask for a break! See what you've done to me?"

Shuichi wasn't paying attention. He was busy writing a work schedule for the three of them that was to take place over the next five days. Hiro grimaced at the sight of Shuichi working even harder. The guitarist was about ready to chop off his hands so he wouldn't have to play anymore.

"Someone kill me now…" Hiro mumbled. He started to pull his hair back behind his head to put it up. He took the hair tie from his wrist and held it between his teeth. With all of his hair in one hand, he took the tie from his mouth and made a high ponytail.

No sooner had he finished that he felt someone wrap their arms around him from behind. It wasn't hard to figure out who it was.

"Aww…You stole my look Hiro-kun…" K said sadly.

Hiro laughed a little. Even though Shuichi knew what was going on, Suguru didn't, and neither Hiro nor K wanted to take the chance of Tohma catching something on camera that would show him that anyone knew what was going on. Thus, the acting continued.

"K, you know you're the only one who could pull this look off." Hiro said.

"Damn right." K replied, bringing a hand up and stroking Hiro's throat. "But I like that it exposes all this flesh…it's so much easier for me to get to that sexy neck of yours…"

A soft kiss found its way to the crook of the guitarist's neck, sending a quick tingle down his back.

"HEY!" Shuichi shouted in their direction. Both heads turned to him. "WE'RE WORKING HERE! K, either take him home or leave him alone!"

It looked as though Suguru's body went into a complete and total shutdown. "WHAT? WHY DOES HIRO GET THE OPTION TO LEAVE?" he yelled. Shuichi glared at him, causing the air to go cold.

"Because…" he said calmly, "I SAID SO! NOW KEEP WORKING ON THAT NEW SCORE, OR I'LL WORK YOU SO HARD YOUR Y- CHROMOSOMES WILL FALL OUT!"

Suguru swallowed hard. "From where?" he asked in a high pitched voice.

"Do you really want to know?" Shuichi tested. Fujisaki was silent as he returned to his keyboard. The singer then turned his attention to Hiroshi and K.

"Well?" Shuichi shot. "You're distracting my genius! STAY IN OR GET OUT!"

"Hold your horses Shuichi, I won't be long." K said. He brought a hand up to stroke Hiro's chin. "I just want to talk to my Hiro-chan…"

"THEN STOP TALKING TO _ME_!" Shuichi shouted. He then went back to his plans, strongly resembling a mad scientist contemplating his next monster. Suguru gave a pleading look, seemingly begging K to rescue him. K chose to ignore it. Fujisaki was a big boy, and there was plenty of time left in his life for therapy.

"Well? What's up?" Hiro asked.

"I was wondering if you wanted to do something with me on Sunday." He said.

Hiro was taken by surprise. "You mean a date?" He had a feeling that this was part of Tohma's plan, but the thought didn't keep his heart from wanting to explode. K released him from behind and came around to the front. Hiro attempted feebly to hide his new blush.

"Yeah, a date!" K said. "That way, we have all of Sunday to do what we want. Sound good?"

'Sound good? K, you have no idea who you're talking to.' Hiro thought. Just the prospect of spending an _entire_ day alone with K…

Alone….

What a wonderful word….

"Sounds great!" He replied happily. K gave him a big thumbs-up and an even bigger smile. He looked like a big goofy giant, and frankly, Hiro could care less. He was in love with that guy, and he was damn proud of it!

"That's great news!" K exclaimed in English. He opened his mouth again to say something when another thought suddenly forced its way out of his mouth. "Oh Hiro, before I go, do you have any of that lip balm you were wearing yester day on you by any chance?"

It took the guitarist a minute to understand what on earth K was talking about. "What lip…Oh!" he said in realization, "I…I left it at home! Sorry about that."

"Really?" K moaned, "That sucks. I really wanted some…I've been looking everywhere for it, and I can't find it! What was the flavor again?"

"Uh…" Hiro stuttered. What flavor? How the hell was he supposed to know? Can someone actually know what they taste like? Hiro decided he's just have to make something up. Quickly he scanned the room for anything that might give him an idea. 'Coffee? No…uh…shoes? No! Uh…uh…what about…what about…?' his mind was working to hard. Why was picking a flavor so hard?

"Hiro…?" K asked, noticing the distress on Hiro's face.

" Pinapple-cherry-shoe-chocolate-pinacolata explosion!" he shouted.

There was an awkward silence. Even Shuichi managed to pry himself from his work long enough to look up.

"…Excuse me?"

"Yeah! Pinea..Pin…whatever I just said!" Hiro said quickly. His bright red face wasn't helping his cause, but right now, he just needed K to buy it. Snickers began to fill the room as Shuichi tried to contain his laughter.

"…Are you sure?" K asked.

"Would I lie to you, K?" Hiro said in his most convincing voice. The blond watched him for what seemed like forever before giving up.

"If you say so Hiro… You're going to have to write that down for me."

Hiro sighed in relief. 'Thank God…'

"But damnit, I was really in the mood for it too…" he said, crossing his arms.

Hiro laughed awkwardly as he shrugged his shoulders in an ' I don't know what to tell you' fashion.

"Hey, wait, I know!" K said, turning to the guitarist. "Hiro you're wearing some right now, right?"

Hiro turned a little pinker. "I…I guess you could say that…why?" he asked cautiously. K scoffed as though the solution was obvious. "So, that means that if I kiss you, I'll get some of it on my lips too!"

There was a small pause as Hiro's body completely turned of and reset itself.

"What?" he said, his voice cracking at the end.

"Aww c'mon Hiro! I really want some! Pleeease? It's just a kiss!" he begged. K even went as far as to stick out his lower lip and make an exaggerated pout.

Red faced, Hiro averted his eyes to the ground. "…Fine…" he said.

Grinning and flashing his teeth, K laughed, "Awesome! Thanks Hiro." He said. Hen, without warning, Hiro felt K grab the bottom of his chin, bring his head up, and crash their lips together. Still off guard, Hiro barely had enough time to enjoy it before K pulled away. He sucked his lips a little and gave a big toothy smile.

"Definitely going to have to write that down for me." He said.

Hiro took a moment to take in the quick kiss that had come and gone."Ok…" he said.

K laughed. "Well, now that my job here is done, I better get going. I have a feeling that if I stay any longer, Shuichi will have me sent back to America in pieces." He kept his smile and looked over to Shuichi, who was glaring daggers at him with eyes that implied he had long overstayed his welcome. "Oh how lucky you are that my guns are back in my office."

K's comment was responded to with Shuichi's tongue.

"Fine. I'll get you later." He scowled, pointing at Shuichi with malice. He looked back to Hiro. "I guess I'll be on my way then. Catch you on Sunday, ok? Your place, twelve o'clock?"

Hiro nodded shyly. "Yeah…"

K leaned down and planted a small kiss on Hiro's cheek. "See ya." With that, he made his way to the door, leaving a still crimson Hiro in the middle of the room.

"Damn, and I thought I was in love." Shuichi said suddenly after the blond had exited the room. Hiro's head jerked around to look at him, though his eyes were still on the paper. "I go over there and hug you out of joy, but I'm a little busy at the moment." He added.

Hiro smiled awkwardly and looked back at the door K had just used. He then brought a hand back up to his mouth. "A date…" he repeated. What were Hiro and K going to do on a date?

"By the way Hiro," Shuichi said, interrupting his friend's thoughts, "If you ever get the urge, feel free to kiss me too."

The guitarist was confused. "What? Why?"

The singer smirked like a smart ass. "I've always wanted to know what 'Pinapple-cherry-shoe-chocolate-pinacolata explosion' tastes like."

"Shut up Shuichi."

**A/N**: Lol, everyone wishes they had some Pinapple-cherry-shoe-chocolate-pinacolata explosion. I know I do

Anyway, I'M SO SORRY THAT THIS TOOK SO LONG TO POST AND IF IT WAS BORING! T.T I was working on it, I really was! It was the writer's block I tell you! And then, I had to write this essay thingy over the summer, but it turns out, I don't even TAKE that class, so I did half of my summer reading assignments for nothing T.T

SO. NOT. WORTH IT.

Anywhatzers, I'm going to ask for 10 reviews (as always ) and end by wishing everyone a great school year! GO FRESHMEN! Lol

Ps, I've been freaking OBSESSED with Akuroku lately, and there's nothing I'd like more than to write a little one shot or short story for it. If anyone has any ideas they want to share (I'll of course give you credit) they'd be greatly appreciated!


	4. Phase Four: Get Ready for the Date

**A/N**: Heh…..hehehe….hehe…lol…(drools at awesome FFVII AC wallpaper)…heh….sexy Cloud….

**Disclaimer:** We're sorry, but the authoress cannot come to the story right now. She's still currently staring at the ever so HAWT Cloud Strife on her computer screen. However, if she were here, she'd tell you that she doesn't own Gravitation in any way, shape or form. If you wish to contact her, please leave a review at the end of the story.

If you'd like to fax this person, press 5 now.

And, here we go!

* * *

'I should go home.' K thought. He stared at the door of Hiro's apartment, torn between whether to leave or go in. The blond reached into his pocket and pulled out the silver key Hiro had given him earlier that day. He stared at it blankly, recalling when Hiro had placed it in his hand. 

"Here, this way when you come in the morning, you don't have to pick the lock." He'd said.

Now, K was about to use one of the advantages of the key, which was having access to Hiro's home at all times. Though, when Hiro gave it to him, he probably wasn't expecting the American to show up at two o'clock in the morning.

Yes, K was now about to barge into Hiro's house in the daytime of the night.

'This is ridiculous,' he thought, unconsciously clutching the piece of sliver in his hand, 'I told Hiro I didn't need him anymore.'

While this was true, K couldn't deny that right now, he just wanted to be in Hiro's presence at the least. The blond smiled sadly to himself. 'I was so sure I was over all this.'

Over the past few days, probably out of anticipation for the date he and Hiro were going to go on, K's mind had recently been riddled with thoughts of his wife. Thoughts of how they met, how nervous he'd been when he'd first asked her on a date, their wedding, Michael...

Then tonight, the night before the actual date, K had become so engulfed in these memories that brought back so much pain, he was close to being sick. Once he managed to calm himself, he was surprised to find his himself focusing only Hiro. As thought Hiro was like some sort of medicine, K knew that whenever he was with Hiro, thoughts of his old life didn't make him upset when they reared their heads.

So, K had taken a walk over to Hiro's building.

'It seemed like a good idea at the time.' He recalled. Now, the thought of suddenly appearing in Hiro's home looking for comfort didn't seem like such a great thing.

Still, his longing to see the musician was taking over his actions. Quickly, he unlocked the door and let himself in.

'Sorry about this, Hiro.' He thought as he shut the door behind him. K turned around to examine the dark room. Everything was covered in shadows, aside from a few parts that were being showered in moonlight through the windows. The parts that were lit had a nice tint of blue covering them, giving them the appearances of paintings.

As he continued to examine, K found that he had a personal favorite part of the picture. It was the bed, dripping with blue light from the window, Hiro lying on his back in the center.

The blond walked as quietly as he could over to Hiro's bedside. It wasn't high off the ground, so K managed to kneel by him, and the bed only came up to his elbow.

He couldn't seem to pry his eyes away.

'He looks so beautiful…' he thought. His eyes began to trace Hiro's features, his slender face, his gently closed eyes, nose, and his slightly parted lips. The light seemed to add just the right amount of shine to them, giving the impression that they were covered with a gloss.

K felt himself swallow roughly, barely finding enough saliva to send down. He suddenly got a crazy idea. He had an insane urge to kiss Hiro.

His cheeks suddenly felt warmer . Gazing at Hiro's frame stirred something in him that had remained dormant for a long time. 'I can't do that!' he thought, 'We're not in front of any media right now. He'd get the wrong impression. He'll…He'd…'

The American started to lose his train of thought. He couldn't stop thinking about stealing just one kiss from the guitarist. Suddenly, it was the only thing that occupied his mind. Just one little peck couldn't hurt, right? If he focused on stealth, he could do it without having Hiro wake up.

'Heh…First I break into his house, and then I take advantage of him while he's sleeping…' he thought, 'I'm going to really have to make it up to him tomorrow.'

K dared not touch him for fear of startling Hiro before his goal was accomplished. The blond felt his heart beating at an alarming rate in his chest. He'd kissed Hiro plenty of times over the last week, for various reasons, and yet, there was something especially exciting about a kiss 'off camera'.

He felt himself become especially flustered as he slowly placed him mouth directly over Hiro's, their lips barely touching.

'Hiro, I know you probably think this is weird,' he thought, 'but I can't help it…something about you is…'

He gingerly rubbed Hiro's cheek, forgetting that the goal was to keep the guitarist sleeping.

'…irresistible.'

"K…" Hiro moaned into his mouth. K immediately jumped back, about five feet away from the bed. He watched in horror as Hiro's brow furrowed and he slowly opened his eyes. His heart pounded, from fear, surprise, or from previous excitement, he didn't know.

'Shit!' he thought, clenching is teeth, 'Please tell me that he didn't see me!'

The red head rubbed his eyes with a balled fist and propped himself up on an elbow. A small yawn escaped him as he groggily looked in K's direction. The blond gulped as he watched Hiro squint at him, then stare wide-eyed.

"K?!" he exclaimed, shooting into an upright position, holding the blanket in one hand, stabilizing himself on the other. "K, what are you doing here?" he looked to the clock, "It's two in the morning! I thought we were meeting here at ten, not two!"

K felt a sigh of relief pass through him. It seemed like Hiro was completely unaware of what he almost did.

"What? Oh! Sorry, Hiro." He said, a light giggle in his voice.

"Is everything ok?" The guitarist asked, genuinely concerned. Hiro proceeded to quickly pull the covers off of his body, exposing his usual topless figure to the American as he came closer to inspect him. "Are you hurt or something?"

Distracted by all that had happened since he'd first arrived, K had almost forgotten why he'd come to Hiro's house in the first place. After popping in for a few days before work in the morning, K had gotten used to Hiro's routine of sleeping without a shirt. However, this didn't mean that he didn't look for an opportunity to stare when he could.

"N-no! Of course I'm not hurt." He reassured him. "I was just…"

He was currently looking directly into Hiro's eyes. "Just what?"

Suddenly, K felt very embarrassed. He wasn't really sure what he should say, or how to say it. His gaze dropped to the floor.

"Just…"

K couldn't seem to bring himself to say 'I really needed to see you.' Instead, he did quite the opposite. He suddenly got up. "I'm sorry, Hiro. I'll just go home. I shouldn't have come here in the first place."

He was about to turn heel for the door, when Hiro stopped him. "What? Why not?"

"Oh, I don't know, maybe because it's the middle of the night?" K said sarcastically. Hiro screwed up his face in disapproval.

"You wouldn't have come here unless you needed something." He said, crossing his arms.

A short silence.

The tension was finally sliced when Hiroshi shrugged and sighed. "Whatever, you don't have to tell me if you don't want to. If you're going to take your time finishing whatever business you have here though, I'm going to bed."

Hiro began to make his way back to the comfort of his covers. He was halted in his tracks when he felt K grab his wrist.

"Can I sleep here tonight?!" K blurted out. Quickly realizing what he'd said, a blush came over him and he brought a hand up to his mouth. His little outburst caused Hiro to look back.

Their eyes locked, and the two men stared at each other for what seemed like forever.

Finally, K spoke, "Hiro, listen, I…"

"Floor or bed?" the other man interjected.

K raised an eyebrow in question. "Pardon?"

"I asked if you wanted the floor or the bed." Hiro reiterated.

The blond was at a loss for words. Was that it? No questions why, no objections, just the choice of where he wanted to sleep? Hiro was taking this a lot better than he K thought he would.

He'd been so taken aback that K forgot to answer, so Hiro chose for him.

Another heavy sigh escaped the guitarist, "Damn, you really just don't feel like talking tonight, do you?" he asked, resting one hand on his hip so his arm made an angle. Yet again, Hiro was looking like a housewife.

K was still silent.

"Alright then." He said, "You get the bed. Do you need clothes? You and I are about the same size." Hiro said, looking the man up and down.

The blond was starting to grasp his hold on reality again. "I…I'll be fine in what I'm in." He said.

Hiro shrugged and turned heel, heading towards his closet.

He returned a few minutes later, a spare plain white sheet crumpled in a ball in one hand, and a second sheet in the other. He loosely tossed the spreads to the floor and ripped a spare pillow from his bed, throwing it to the same spot. The blond had yet to move.

"If you plan on standing all night, I'll take my bed back." Hiro said playfully.

"No! I mean, if you want if back,, then have it…Not that I don't appreciate-!"

Hiro couldn't stop himself from chuckling at K's sad attempt to explain himself. "Just get in the bed, crazy." He said smiling.

K shut his mouth and blushed profusely. He then turned his gaze to the floor, finding the carpet much more interesting. Hiro's laugh simmered down to a giggle. "Alright, I'm going to get some sleep. It's really late, and this is the first night I've had in a few weeks without Shuichi."

K could see that Hiro was secretly happy that his best friend had gone home to his recently returned lover. K could only guess what it was like living with Shuichi 24/7.

An unintentional shudder ran through his body.

"If you do plan on sleeping, you'll probably get up before me. If you get hungry, fridge is open." He said, motioning to the kitchen. Then, he slowly made his way to the floor, straightened his blanket and pillow, and comfortably situated himself with them and muttered a final 'goodnight' to K before drifting off again.

The blond looked from the empty bed, to the now once again sleeping form of his pretend lover. Hiro must've been fighting to stay awake while talking to K, because after only a minute or two, he had returned to the deep state of sleep K had found him in.

Not wanting to take Hiro's kindness for granted, he slowly crept into the bed, fully clothed, and laid his head on the pillow.

As soon as his head hit the cushion, K felt overwhelmed by Hiro's ever familiar scent. Just as he had done a few days before, he buried his head in the fluff, taking in whatever he could. Just the feeling of this aroma passing through his nasal passages was enough to slow his heartbeat and clear his head. It was like a drug. I wonderful, beautiful drug named Hiroshi Nakano.

He could feel his eyelids becoming heavier by the second. Everything around him was becoming blurry and meshing together.

'Hiro…thank you…' he thought.

He fell asleep.

* * *

_K opened his eyes and looked around. He wasn't on the bed anymore, or even in Hiro's apartment for that matter. Somehow, K'd managed to end up back in his home, standing by his bed. _

_"What the hell am I doing here?" K wondered aloud. _

_He took the opportunity to look around. Maybe that would give him a clue. Everything seemed normal, __everything in its place, __except for one thing. _

_K could see himself in his bed. _

_However__, he wasn't sleeping. He was sitting up, one leg bent up, one laying on the covers. His head was resting on his standing knee, as was his left arm.__ K was about to go over and see if it was really him he was looking at__, but he noticed something that made him stop._

_The K who was on the bed was sobbing. _

_The blond suddenly felt a wave of nostalgia. This scene looked familiar…__If it was __t__he scene__ he was thinking of, then any second __now…_

_"K, are you alright?" Hiro said as he entered the room. __He quickly analyzed the scene and immediately took a__ place at the bed K's side. He sat next to him, __concern covering his face like a mask.__ "What happened?" Hiro asked. _

_The crying K cried even harder. "Oh God Hiro…"__ he said, "I'm __getting __divorced…I'__m getting a goddamn divorce!"_

_The other K his heart squeeze and constrict. This had taken place seemingly so long ago, even __though it was only a few months before. He watched as Hiro tried to console the past K by getting closer._

_"K…" Hiro said slowly.__ He started to gently caress the blond's back.__ "It's not…"_

_"No, Hiro, i__t is my fault." He said, not letting Hiro finish. He ran a hand roughly through his messy hair.__ Leaning his forehead into his hand, K looked off into seemingly nothing.__ "I…I really fucked up this time…" _

_Hiro was silent. _

_"What the hell is wrong with me?" he asked aloud__, adding an exaggerated shrug into the mix__. "I abandoned my family…my son…and now, they don't need me anymore…"_

_Dreaming K could see Hiro's face start to scrunch up. _

_"That's enough." Hiro said sternly. __K looked over at his friend's now serious face.__ "They may not need you anymore, but Bad Luck sure as hell does. __You made a mistake, and I'm sorry that you'r__e going through this,__but sulking about it isn't going to help you make the best of it." _

_The K who was standing was watching intently. He hadn't thought about this night in a lon__g time. 'This was the night Hiro…'_

_"What do you expect me to do?"__ K snapped "__After everything that's happened, what the hell do you expect me to do?" Even though K had become angry, the musicians had obviously faded._

_Hiro gently K's head__ to his nightstand where a half a dozen beer bottles stood, all accumulated over the past few days._

_"First, I expect you to get rid of the alcohol." He said. Then, he turned the blond's head to the clock, which read a time tha__t even an owl would find inhumane__. "Then, I expect you to start getting some sleep." Hiro turned K'__s head back to face him. They locked eyes__ and__ Hiro__ softly removed his hand from K's head and caressed his cheek instead__. "__After that, we'll see what we can do about this stubble you've got growing. Sound good?" _

_K didn't reply.__ He looked mesmerized. _

_"Well, whether you like it or not, that's what's going to happen." Hiro said. _

_Again, nothing was said. __K's eyes lowered from Hiro's and looked as though they were assessing the distance between them._

_"Hey, are you listening?" Hiro asked. He moved his hand from K's face, but was immediately brought__ back when K grabbed his wrist and pulled him into an embrace._

_Things suddenly became silent. They sat there, together, for what seemed like hours. The K who was standing, however, could clearly see the clock, and found that he'd only held the younger man for a minute or two before speaking again._

_"Thank you." He said.__ He squeezed Hiro a little tighter. "Without you, I might not have survived this long." _

_The K who was standing laughed a little to himself. 'I remember I was so scared Hiro would take that hug the wrong way. Stupid impulsive ideas…__'_

_Though, there really __hadn't been __much for K to worry about, because after a while, all Hiro said was:_

_"No problem."_

_Just then, a giant light__ began to envelope__ the entire scene. The two on the bed didn't seem to not__ice, but the real K was taken__ completely__ by__ surprise._

_"What the hell is this?" he yelled.__The light engulfed him as well, and for a moment, everything went dark. _

K's eyes snapped open and his body shot up, a few stray beads of sweat flying off in random directions. A few heavy pants escaped him as he shut his eyes, just realizing how bright it was in the room.

'Damnit! That hurts!' K thought, referring to his pupils. He brought two fingers up to rub his eyes, trying to make the multicolored spots that were forming beneath his eye lids go away.

Once the stinging had subsided, K managed to open his eyes. The sun was bright, which gave him the impression that it was later in the morning.

"Ah…Hiro...?" he called. A last rub of his eyes with a fist allowed him to finally take in the sight of the bright room.

"Hiro?" K said again. Through squinted vision, he scanned the floor where he last saw the younger man, only to find him again. As he took in the sight, K felt himself relax, and even smile.

Hiro's blanket looked as though it had just lost a fight, crumpled in all areas, and at this point barely covering more than the lower part of the guitarist's torso. His hair looked more like a mane as it was spraying out in all directions from Hiro's head and gently resting on the pillow, a few strands falling over his cheeks and nose. Yet, even while all this chaos surrounded his body, Hiro's face still seemed angelic, his features completely unfazed. It looked as though his expression was out of place, like a piece of fine china in the dump.

'He looks even better than he did last night.' K thought. He felt butterflies fill his stomach as he continued to watch the other man sleep. This was such a foreign feeling, this…dare he say it, _attraction_ that came over him whenever Hiro was near. Within the past few days, K noticed that the emotion had risen to a dangerously high level. In such a short time, he'd gone from having Hiro as a best friend, to possibly wanting him as a real lover.

'Maybe this is what Tohma was talking about.' He thought. It wasn't impossible, but somewhere deep inside K couldn't help but feel that that theory was wrong. This feeling seemed far too real for it to just be a rebound of emotions.

"K…" he heard Hiro moan, "Are you up?"

Startled, a small shiver when through the blond's body. From where he was sitting, K couldn't see Hiro's eyes, so if he'd woken up, K wouldn't have noticed.

"Hiro?" he called.

Another sound came from the guitarist. Hiro was awake. Slowly, he began to lift himself off of the ground. "Yeah." He said sleepily.

"How long have you been up?" K asked.

"I just opened my eyes." Hiro replied. He turned his body around to face K, his hair a complete mess, eyes still covered by half of the lids. "You were watching me, weren't you?" he asked calmly.

K froze. How had Hiro known? "Why?" he said.

"For some reason, whenever someone watches me when I sleep, I wake up. It's almost like I can feel their eyes on me, y'know?"

"Oh." The blond said, a feeling of relief going through him. "Sorry about that."

Hiro shook his head. "Don't worry about it." He said, "You didn't know. Plus, we should probably get up anyway, seeing as it's almost noon."

The red head motioned to the clock, making K's head turn in that direction. Hiro was indeed correct. "I guess we should get going then." He said. "Today is the day after all. I'd be willing to bet money that Tohma's got the press waiting outside to watch our every move."

Hiro laughed a little. He ran a hand through is messy hair, moving it out of his face. "I definitely wouldn't put it past him. After all, this whole thing is nothing but a few pounds of crack for the media to feed off of."

"Yep." K said in agreement. "But on the other hand, it's kind of fun to watch the people go ballistic whenever we act like a couple of dogs in heat."

"Ha! True, some of them make the most idiotic faces when we do that. Remember the reporter on Thursday?"

K quickly searched his memory for the interview that had taken place on Thursday. A smile came to him as he recalled ever so sweetly whispering in Hiro's ear and caressing his thigh, making him blush like a school girl. The reporter (who was female) made the most screwed up face imaginable, before promptly excusing herself and heading off into a bathroom. When she returned, a little blood could still be seen dripping out of her nostril.

He laughed. "I almost felt bad for her."

"It was your fault." Hiro pointed out, standing up. He stretched his arms out and above his head. "No one told you to go horny on me."

K felt a certain redness return to his face as he watched the man in front of him. He shook himself from it quickly and stood up as well. "It's not my fault you reacted like that." He said.

Hiro watched him carefully. It was clear on his face that he wasn't sure whether or not K was playing with him, but he wasn't about to give up. The reality was, K didn't know if he was just playing around either.

"How would you have expected me to react?"

"I don't know," K said. He had no idea what he was saying. "but no one said you had to do it like that."

Hiro raised an eyebrow. "Oh really?" he said. Very calmly, Hiro took a few steps forward and ever so lightly pushed K backwards so he fell onto the bed again.

"What was that for?" he asked roughly.

Hiro ignored him and climbed on top of him. His blush had not dissipated, and this situation was obviously only aggravating it.

"I want to know how differently you respond when I touch you like this…"

He began to mimic K's motion from the other day, caressing the older man's thigh, slowly going higher and higher. Then he leaned next to his ear.

"…and when I talk to you in a breathy whisper like this."

K couldn't stop himself from doing as Hiro did. Slightly annoyed at himself for even bringing it up, he took his frustration out by flipping their positions so Hiro lay beneath him, and K was staring down at him.

"Okay, so maybe you're right about that." He said, "But that's not fair to do it like that without warning."

"Oh please," Hiro said, rolling his eyes, "like you give me any warning before you start doing shit like that."

"Would it make a difference?" K asked. "From now on, if I announced 'I'm going to kiss you', instead of just doing it, would your response really change?"

"Well, I don't know, you've never tried, have you?" Hiro spat.

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah!"

"Okay then Mr. I-Know-Everything, I'll try it your way! I'm going to kiss you, got it?!"

"Fine!"

"Fine!"

K crashed his mouth onto Hiro's with such force he actually caused them to bounce a little on the bed. The guitarist groaned a little from the push, but that didn't stop him from kissing back with the same amount of power.

A fight for dominance began when Hiro's lips parted and K took the opportunity to slip his tongue into the other's mouth. The red head put up a good fight, but in the end, it was K who was victorious.

Hiro raised his hands and grabbed to large fistfuls of K's blond locks. The American moaned into his mouth. He felt himself getting harder; he was beginning to lose himself, he could feel it, and yet, K found that he could care less.

'Why do I feel like I want this to happen?' he asked himself, 'What is wrong with me? This isn't real, remember? You're supposed to be nothing but actors for the press, not actual lovers!'

If that was true, then why was it that whenever K was with Hiro, he felt like every problem and hardship he'd ever been through didn't seem to hurt him anymore? Why was it that whenever Hiro was around, K was happier than he'd been in a long time, and whenever he left, K felt like the sun wouldn't come up ever again?

'What if…' he thought, caressing Hiro's chest, making him breathe in sharply, 'I'm starting to fall in love again…'

Before K had time to really analyze his emotions, he felt something vibrate on his hip. It was his cell phone. He tried to ignore it, but the damn thing refused to give up. Finally, K gave in and removed himself from atop the guitarist. They were both panting, having forgotten to stop for air.

"I…" Hiro started.

"Phone." Was all K could say, motioning to his pocket. Hiro nodded in understanding as the blond removed himself from atop the younger man and stood up. He took his phone from his pocket and put it to his ear.

"Hello?" he said.

"Rise and shine lover boy!" said the other voice. It was Tohma. "Have you forgotten what day it is?"

K glanced over at Hiro, who was looking upset. "No, I haven't." he said.

"Well then, get your boyfriend's butt up and get out there! I've already hinted at a few magazines that you two will be together today."

"Alright. Give us an hour to get ready." He said.

Tohma sighed. "Fine. But you better be out there in an hour. I don't want to lose my reliability because of you two."

"Understood." K said. He then said his farewells and put the device back in his pocket. He then turned all his attention to Hiroshi. He was still looking distressed. K had no idea what to say to him. Maybe this was a subject left for later.

"Hiro, that was Tohma. He wants us up and out of the house in an hour."

Hiro nodded slowly. He didn't make eye contact.

"I'm…going to head home, take a shower, and change. I'll be back as soon as I can okay?"

"Just go." Hiro said quickly.

K was a little taken aback by Hiro's sudden hostility, but he knew the guy well enough to understand that he didn't want to talk right now.

"Alright… See you later."

He left.

* * *

"Hey Yuki, would you mind reading over these new lyrics again?" Shuichi asked his lover after a fifth revision. The novelist, who was sitting with his laptop as usual, groaned loudly, and even went as far as to hit his head on the desk. 

"For the love of all that is good in the world, child, if the song sucked balls the first time, why the hell would it suck any less the fifth time??"

Shuichi pouted. "But I fixed them! This time I'm sure they're worthy of your eyes! Please, indulge me my lord!" he said, bowing before the writer.

Yuki sighed. "Fine, but only because you know how to beg."

Shuichi turned his frown upside-down and handed the paper to his lover. As an extra, when he handed the blond the paper, Shuichi threw in a kiss on the cheek as a special thank you.

"Hmm." Was Yuki's only response.

He was still smiling his famous Cheshire cat smile when he suddenly heard the phone ringing in the other room.

"I'll be right back." He said to Yuki.

"Forgive me if I don't count the moments."

Shuichi chose to ignore the older man's comment and proceeded into the other room. He took the phone from its cradle and brought it to the side of his head.

"Hello?" he said.

"Hey." said Hiro.

Shuichi's grin widened. "Well, well, well, if it isn't Romeo himself. How's it going? I thought you and K would've left by now." Shuichi was commenting on the fact that on the caller ID read Hiro's house phone, not his cell.

"I'm not sure if I can do this after all." Hiro said.

The singer was overcome with worry. "What? Why?"

He could hear Hiroshi getting choked up on the other side. "I don't think I can fake it. This week alone was hard enough, and there's no telling how long this could last!"

Shuichi couldn't believe what he was hearing. "You're going to give up?" he asked.

"I'm thinking about it." Hiro said sadly.

"No!" Shuichi protested, "You can't do that! Hiro, you said it yourself, this is your only chance to be with K. You might never get a chance to be with him again!"

"Shuichi, let it go!" Hiro shouted, "It's not real, remember? He doesn't really love me, or have you forgotten that too? I don't know if I can go through with K like this! I don't think I can keep seeing him, everyday, being close to him, and knowing full well the entire time that it's never really meant to be!"

Shuichi remained silent.

"You have no idea how hard I try to look like nothing fazes me, and we know how bad I am at that, since every time the guy touches me I melt! It's almost unbearable. And then you take a day like today, where we end up making out for no good reason, and all I want to do is let go, but I can't, because I don't want to be rejected by him."

Shuichi sighed sadly. "Hiro," he said, "I'm sorry that you had to go through that, but…"

"'But' what?" Hiro said sharply.

"How did K react to the situation?"

Hiro was about to counter, when he realized that he had nothing to say. He barely noticed how K acted during the aftermath. He'd been so focused on how much it hurt him that he never took the time to take in K's response.

"Hiro?" Shuichi asked.

"I…I don't know."

"…He didn't say anything?"

"…No…"

The singer suddenly had an idea. "How can you be willing to call this off if you're not sure how your lover feels?"

There was a long pause.

"He's not my lover," Hiro said finally. "But I guess you're right." Shuichi could hear that his friend was already sounding a little more optimistic. It sounded like he had a small amount of hope in his voice. There was another moment of silence. "He'll be here in fifteen minutes." Hiro must have looked at the clock.

The singer was feeling much better now that his friend was going to continue his fake partnership with their manager. However, that didn't mean he was done worrying. "Don't do something stupid because you're upset, Hiro," Shuichi warned, "If you do, you could end up making him hate you for something stupid."

Hiro sounded in agreement. "Thanks for the talk, Shuichi." He said.

"Yeah, sure. See ya." He said.

"See ya."

Hiro finished getting ready as he finished zipping up his jeans and straightening them over his boots. He looked at himself in the mirror, making sure that he seemed presentable.

Almost as soon as Hiro finished, he heard the click of his lock, and heard the door handle turn. He turned his head to see K walk in through the door, a look of remorse adorning his face. He quickly looked around the place before settling his eyes on Hiro.

"Hey." He said uncharacteristically softly.

"Hey." Hiro replied.

"Ready?" K asked.

"Yep." Hiro said.

Hiro quickly put his phone and some extra cash in his pocket before heading over to the door. As he exited, he couldn't help but notice that K had kept one hand hidden behind his back the entire time.

K shut the door behind him, and Hiro didn't wait to ask the question that now filled his mind. "What are you hiding behind your back?" he asked, pointing to the hand that remained concealed.

The blond seemed to stiffen up. He turned a light shade of red and eyed whatever he had behind him. "Oh, this? It's just…"

"…Just…?" Hiro asked.

K swallowed loudly before revealing what he had behind his back. Hiro certainly hadn't seen it coming in a million years.

"Hyacinths?" he questioned.

K nodded quickly, shoving the flowers in Hiro's direction. It wasn't a lot, just a small bouquet made of purple hyacinths. The red head took a moment to stare at the star-shaped flowers. It took him a moment to remember that K probably wanted him to take them. He reached out and gently took them from the blond. He held them in his hands, examining them for a moment, then looked back at K.

"What are these for?" he asked.

"It's for this morning." He said. K was trying to stare at the floor, probably too embarrassed to make eye-contact.

Hiro's heart fell a little. If he was apologizing, then K must have regretted it. Though, it was to be expected. He clutched the stems of the flowers through the paper. "Don't worry about it." He said, trying to keep a straight face. "It's not that important."

"Yes it is!" K said. Hiro must have activated some sort of trigger in the older man, because now, he was looking Hiro right in the eye, and even went as far as to reach for one of his hands and take it in his own. "Hiro, I told you before, you're the most important person in my life right now! Earlier, you looked so upset, I had to get something to make it right. Unfortunately, nothing too expensive is in my budget right now, so I had to settle on flowers."

Hiro could feel his heart pounding in his chest. K really cared that much for him? Was he really awake, or was he still sleeping?

"Thank you." He said slowly. "You don't have to worry about what happened earlier, it's fine."

Hiro could see K's eyes searching him. "Are you sure?" K asked, "If there's anything else I could do for you Hiro, please, let me know!"

Hiro laughed a little on the inside. 'Fall in love with me.' Hiro thought. If only it was that simple.

The musician shook his head. "This is perfect." He said. K smiled at him, and Hiro smiled back. He looked down at the flowers again. They seemed to glow in the daylight, the sun making them look more beautiful than any other flower he'd ever seen.

"Well, I'll go take these inside. Mind waiting for a minute?" Hiro asked.

"Not at all." K said.

A short time passed.

"K…uh…if I'm going to go, you need to let go of my hand." Hiro laughed, motioning to said hand. The blond apologized quickly and immediately let go.

"Sorry." He said again.

"No problem."

Hiro turned, reentered his home and walked to the kitchen. Carefully, he set the bouquet down and found a large glass that was in his cabinet. He took it down and filled it with water from the sink. As he turned back to the flowers to take them from the paper, Hiro once again thought about how sweet it was that K had tried to apologize with them.

'And he was appropriate with them too,' Hiro thought, 'These flowers mean 'I'm sorry'."

Hiro started to recall the fad that had taken place in high school, where anytime you wanted to send a message, the 'cool thing' was to say it with flowers. Over that ever so short period of time, Hiro was amazed at how many different flower meanings he'd come across. The purple hyacinth was one of them.

Finally, he managed to remove the paper, revealing that the flowers were still being held together by a rubber band. Hiro went to pick them up and place them in the tall glass he had continuously filling under the faucet, when he noticed something white sitting in the middle of the stems.

"Another flower?" he said aloud. Hiro picked up the bouquet and removed the rubber band. Quickly, he sifted through the stems and found the head of another flower. This one was completely white, and it looked like the result of someone opening the petals of a rose. However, this flower was no rose.

Hiro thought his heart would stop. He suddenly felt a rush of endorphins run through him. If this really was the flower he thought it was, then maybe it would be better not to ask K to break things off just yet.

"A gardenia…" he said as he picked it up. He felt butterflies in his stomach as he caressed the petals. Such a beautiful flower. Now, if only he was sure whether or not K's giving him that flower was intentional or not.

There was a rapping on the door. "Hiro, are you alright?" called K.

"Yeah!" Hiro called back, "I'll be there in just a second." With the fastest pace he could manage, Hiro placed all the flowers in the glass, taking especially good care of the gardenia.

He would have to find out about it later. For now though, he had to leave and spend time with the guy he loved.

This was going to be a good day…

**A/N**: Ooooo what does a gardenia mean? Well, I know, Hiro obviously knows, and I'm pretty sure the small gnomes who reside in my basement also know! But the question is, DO YOU: D

Oh, before I say anything else, I just want you to know two things:

First: I have a livejournal now, so if you want to add me or something or whatever (total n00b), please, don't hesitate! I love meeting new people! The link to it is on my profile page (it's my home page) or if you can't get it there, I'm sangokagome there as well.

Second: Yes, for what I have currently planned, they will go on the actual date in the next chapter. If there's anything you'd like to see happen, please tell me in a review (that's writer code for, 'HELP ME MY MIND IS DRY')

About the gardenia thing…If you feel like waiting, wait. If you feel like looking it up early and trying to predict what I'm going to have happen, you can do that too. Until then, my usual number if you please, that's 10 for all yall new folks, tell me about any mistakes or confusing things you find, and with that I'm off!


	5. Phase Five: Strike Up a Deal

**A/N:** (rises from her very cozy grave) _I died…so many years ago…but you can make me feel…like it isn't __soo__…_ Sorry, I was having a wonderful singing moment that related to my recent writing deadness :D

Tell me where that song is from and I'll just have to virtually hug ya:D

Anyway, sorry for the long wait! But I've barely had any free time these past few months. Why does the school system assume that just because it's winter, kids have more time to do their stupid projects and assignments? I mean dang!

Anyway, that's enough about me, let's talk about Hiro and K!

And, here we go!

-------------------------------------------------

"…and that's how I got my hands on my first gun." K finished, taking a sip from his glass of water. He and Hiro had taken a walk to a small café not far from Hiro's apartment. They figured that it would be a good idea to start off a day with a bite to eat.

The guitarist couldn't help but laugh at the blond's tale. He had always assumed that K was…well, _born_ with a gun in his hands; that one had been attached to him like an umbilical cord at birth. However, the story was indeed quite different.

"A Super Soaker? Does that really count as a gun?" he asked.

"Of course it does! If I had filled it with acid, it would have been just as dangerous as a real one!" he said, placing his drink back on the table, "I'll never forget that birthday. Everyone went home drenched in water."

"And it wasn't even yours." Hiro giggled.

"Hey, if the neighbors decide to carelessly leave their things on the lawn, then they're up for grabs I say."

Hiro smiled and nodded. He scooped up some scrambled eggs from his plate with his fork, and put them in his mouth. Even with his close –to-full stomach, Hiro still felt like he had butterflies. It had been a while since he and K had gone out together, and back then, it was just as friends. Now, with the weight of the press, and his feelings, Hiro was sure that any moment now, his heart was going to pop out of his chest.

"Hiro, they found us." K said casually, taking a bite of toast.

Hiro was puzzled for a moment until he looked back. He saw a couple of people, a man and a woman both wearing hats and sunglasses to hide their faces, cameras dangling from their necks. They were trying to hide behind a couple of menus, though their attempts were failing big time. When they saw Hiro look at them, both the man and woman hid their faces completely behind the menus, trying to act inconspicuous.

"That didn't take long."

"Tohma said he'd have people tailing us." K sighed. "What a pain."

"Aww, you don't like being out with me?" Hiro said, faking a sad tone. K smirked.

"Knock it off, you know damn well that that's not true." He said. He dipped his fingers into the icy cold water in his glass and flicked them in Hiro's direction. The guitarist put up a miniscule defense of only his hand, not managing to block any of the incoming water.

"Hey!" he said laughing. "Then don't sound like you have something stuck up your ass, try and have a little fun. Just because they're following us doesn't mean we have to act like two dogs in heat."

K hummed a little, agreeing with the younger man. "That's easier said than done," he said smirking playfully, "Being in heat is half the fun."

"Maybe for you," Hiro said quietly. 'I don't know how much longer I can stand it.'

As the waitress came and gave them the check, Hiro felt his thoughts drift back to earlier that morning. Sure, it was easy for K to joke about, but Hiroshi was finding it a little more difficult. Shuichi was right in telling him to ask K about it, but the problem was how to bring it up. 'Hey, let's head to a movie after this; did that kiss this morning turn you on?'

"So, how about we get out of here?" K suggested, placing some money with the check. "I'm up for anything, so you can pick."

Hiro nodded. Just as he was about to call the waitress over, there was a sudden buzzing sound that came from his pocket. His phone was ringing. Strange, who would be calling him now?

"Who is it?" K asked, hearing the phone vibrate. Hiro shrugged as he pulled the device from his pocket. As the blond wrangled a woman over to come and take the check, Hiro checked the caller ID. It felt like time froze, and his body became void of any form of heat.

Ayaka. That's a name he hadn't thought about in while.

The guitarist visibly turned pale, and as the woman walked away to the register, K quickly asked him what was wrong.

The cell continued to ring, begging to be answered. "I…um…could you give me a second?"

The blond nodded, and was about to say something, but Hiro rushed off too quickly. K watched as he quickly went out the door and put the phone to his ear.

"A-Ayaka-chan!" Hiro stuttered, "I didn't think I'd hear from you again. How have you been?"

"Why didn't you tell me?" She said quietly. "Why Hiro…I would have understood."

"What?"

" 'I have something else that requires all of my attention. Please forgive me Ayaka-chan.' Weren't those your exact words?" she asked.

Hiro was suddenly riddled with flashbacks. Ayaka was talking about the day he's broken up with her. That was the excuse he'd given her, and it had been true. Back then, the American had been the only thing on his mind, and he thought that that was unfair to her.

"They were true!" Hiro said.

"Yes, but you didn't tell me that you were focused on your relationship with someone else!"

He was taken aback. "Wait, you think that I dumped you for K? Ayaka, that's not it at all!"

"Don't lie to me, Hiro! You and that man are all over the news! Why didn't you tell me? I thought we were at least close enough that you would tell me the truth!"

It sounded like Ayaka was going to cry. Hiro could feel a pit forming in his stomach. "I did tell you the truth, Ayaka-chan. When we split, it really was because I had only one thing on my mind, and that was helping K get back on his feet. You deserved better than that, so I asked that we stop seeing each other."

"…Promise?" she said.

"I wouldn't lie to you."

There must have been something in Hiro's tone that finally convinced her that he really hadn't been lying. "So, it wasn't that I was a burden?" she asked.

"Of course not. I loved spending time with you."

"Thanks, Hiro." She said. The guitarist could hear the smile in her voice. "But, do you mind if I ask you one question?"

"Sure."

"Is K, the one you were helping before, the one who everyone keeps seeing in the media?"

Hiro was quiet for a moment. "Yes. That's him. But I'm being honest when I say that we only got together about a week ago. I wasn't even expecting it myself."

"Hey, Hiro, are you alright?" K asked, emerging from the café. "You've been gone a while."

Hiro nodded quickly. "Listen, Ayaka, I have to go right now. I'm kind of in the middle of something."

"Alright. Talk to you some other time maybe?" she asked.

"Definitely." He said warmly. "Bye."

"Bye."

As Hiro put his cell away, K was watching him cautiously. " 'Ayaka'? Isn't that your ex-girlfriend?"

"Hmm? Oh, yeah. I thought she was going to be angrier at me, but she was a lot calmer than I thought."

"Oh." K said. He continued to watch the guitarist. He didn't much like the idea of Hiro talking to his old girlfriend. He wanted Hiro only to focus on him now, not someone from the past.

"Oh my, K-san, is that _jealousy_ that's plastered on your face?" Hiro smirked, putting his face close K's.

The blond blushed and turned away. "I-I have no idea what you're talking about. I always look like this."

"Really," Hiro laughed,, moving his head so that he was still in front of the blond "then does that mean you're always jealous?"

K frowned as the younger man continued to laugh. "I'm not! I just…I think that even more people will follow us if they think you might be cheating on me."

Hiro held his hands behind his back, still smirking, and started to circle the blond. "Ok then, what if I told you Ayaka and I were getting back together? _Then_ would you be jealous?"

'I'd be jealous enough to maim her.' K thought. "No way!" He said.

"Liar." Hiro smiled. He was just playing of course. He knew that K wouldn't, no, couldn't really be jealous, right? After all, if K was jealous, then that meant that he might actually have some feelings for him.

The thought of K's feelings brought back scenes from earlier that day when Hiro had found that beautiful gardenia hidden in the bouquet. Had it really been there on purpose, or had it just been a fluke? Still, something as important as a flower that symbolized 'secret love' coming from his love interest seemed like too much of a coincidence.

And speaking of coincidences…

"K-san?" called a voice from behind Hiroshi. Both men turned their heads to see where it had come from. A woman with waist-length brown hair that was pulled into two braids stood behind them. She was wearing glasses, an apron, and holding a basket of what looked like different seed packages. One thing was for sure: Hiro had never seen her before. For K however, it was a different story.

"Yukiko-san?"

_"Damnit!"__ K shouted as he walked through the street. Some people stopped to look at him, but he didn't care. They should know how he'd messed up. They should know how angry he was feeling, it was his own damn fault anyway. Why didn't he restrain himself? There was no reason to freak Hiro out like that. The poor guy was confused enough by Tohma's stupid plan, and now K was just adding to the mix by throwing in his quickly developing feelings for him. _

_'If I'm not more careful, Hiroshi won't even want to speak to me anymore__, let alone want to be around me.' He thought._

_He looked around on the street. There must be something that he could do to make it up to his best friend. Something from a shop might do the trick. _

_Glancing around, he found that there were a lot of stores to choose from. K knew that it didn't need to be anything big, but it had to be something that would be meaningful. He decided that the best way to get it done quickly would be to pick a shop at random and just go in. _

_At least, this had been the plan until he heard someone scream. _

_"__Ahh__!"__ It was a woman's voice. It was coming from inside a flower shop, not too far from where he was walking._

_'What the hell?' he thought, rushing over and into the store. The bell that was attached to the door jingled as it was hurriedly opened and closed. 'I don't have time for playing 'Save the Day'! I need to find something for Hiro!' _

_Another scream came from the same woman. K could now hear__ that she was in the back room. He followed the sound to the back, where he pushed open another door. _

_"Is everything alright in here?" he asked as he made an entrance. The woman screamed once more. K's eyes darted to her, and she was pointing frantically to the other side of the room. _

_Reaching back for his ever-trusty handgun, K was about to pull it out, when he realized that there was nothing but some bouquets in the direction the woman was pointing in. _

_"Wait…what?" he said aloud._

_"SP-SPIDER!!" she screamed, a few tears sliding down her cheeks. _

_-------------------------------------_

_After the tiny troublemaker had been released __once again into the outside, only then did the terrified woman emerge from the back room. It would have been an understatement to say that K was annoyed. _

_He sighed roughly. "Are you alright now? Geez, you made it sound like someone was trying to kill you." _

_She nodded and bowed to him quickly. "Thank you very much. I'm sorry to cause you so much trouble. It's just that I've had a fear of spiders since I was a girl, and no matter what I do it won't seem to go away." By now, a smile had found its way to her mouth, and she was showing it shyly. _

_K huffed. "It's fine. I'm just in a rush."__ He said, quickly looking at his watch. His eyes widened. _

_Damn__! He barely had any time before he was supposed to meet Hiro back at his house!_

_"Crap! Where the hell I'm I going to find something for Hiroshi now?" he said aloud. _

_The woman's eyes lit up. "Are you looking for a gift for someone? Please, let me give you a bouquet for free! It's the least I can do!__ After all, there really is a flower for every occasion." _

_K looked from the arachnophobia ridden lady back to his watch. He really didn't have another choice. Plus, anything that would keep his wallet from shrinking anymore was okay in his check book. _

_"Alright.__ Thanks, uh…" Only now did K realize that he didn't know this woman's name. _

_"Oh! Forgive me. My name is __Fujiwara Yukiko__, just Yukiko if you please__Nice to meet you."_

_"__Likewise.__ My name'__s K Winchester__, just K if you don't mind__."_

_Yukiko smiled warmly. "Well then K-san, I guess we should start with what kind of occasion you need these plants for. Is it like a __party,__ or a birthday or…"_

_"It's an apology." He said, slightly embarrassed, "I…I made a mistake with a good friend of mine." _

_"One night stand?" she asked, putting on an understanding face. K blushed and shook his head._

_"No! I just…we…__we forgot that we were just friends, if you catch __my drift. If my phone hadn't started to ring, I think I might have..__." __He ran a hand up to massage the back of his neck. _

_"__Ohh__."__ Yukiko said in recognition. "I s__ee. Well, anyway you look at it__ you're going to need hyacinths." She said__ rushing over to a bucket filled with purple flowers. She took a generous amount and brought them back behind the register to wrap them up. _

_"Why hyacinths?"__ K asked, following her. _

_"They mean 'apology'." She said, "And judging by your story, I'd throw a gardenia in here if I were you. No better way to say things than with flowers.__ It was actually a __big trend not too long ago. I__ never had such great business." _

_As she was finishing the wrapping and making the flowers look nice, K felt a lump in his throat. "Do I dare ask what a gardenia means?" _

_Yukiko stopped in the middle of cutting a stem. She turned to face him for a moment, her cute smile still there. "They mean 'secret love'. And it sounds to me like you and this 'friend' __have__ some pent up feelings for each other.__ Maybe you should give them a shot." _

_K was a little light headed. __'Secret love'?__ No way! There was no way that he could admit… __erm__…_say _something like that to Hiro. He'd already kicked the blond out for a __kiss,__ lord knows what he'd do with a confession. __"I don't think so." He said, an awkward giggle coating his tone. _

_"Oh, is there someone else?" she asked innocently. _

_"No, no! I mean, I just recently got divorced. In fact, Hiro is the one that kept me from falling on my ass." _

_"Is Hiro the one who these hyacinths are for?" _

_Embarrassed, K managed to nod. __"Y-yeah."__ He said shakily. He understood how silly he must look and __sound, talking about an__other man like__ this. _

_Tying the bottom with a bow, Yukiko took the bouquet into her hands and turned. __"He's __very lucky to have someone care__ for him so much.__" She offered the flowers to the American, who took them from her, confused. _

_"Maybe you didn't hear me correctly. __Hiro is the _man _I'm giving these __to__. You know, the one you want me to give the 'secret love' flower thing to?" _

_"Yes, I understand quite well." She said calmly. "And I still don't see the problem, and neither should you." _

_Walking past the blond, Yukiko went to a large collection of white flowers. Pulling out a single blossom, she held it to her heart before adding it into the bouquet K was holding.__ The blossom was placed closer to the botto__m of the stems, concealing it from__ the naked eye.__ "Love is love K-san. And whether you like it or not, it doesn't pay attention to gender. The best thing you can do is try and see it love's way. It's worth trying, don't you think?" _

_Looking at the bouquet, then back to the forever smiling Yukiko, K couldn't he__lp but feel that she was right. There was no denying that there were feelings to be __explored, and maybe the best way to convey them would be through a subtle meaning. _

_"Sure." _

"I didn't think I'd see you again in such a short span of time." Yukiko said as she approached the couple. "That's not to say it's not a pleasant surprise."

"Yeah," K said, "Good to see you too."

Hiro was getting a little annoyed, though he was trying to keep it hidden. Who was this woman, and why was she so friendly with his lover? Subconsciously, he stepped closer to the blond, even going as far to hold his hand. He felt K adjust suddenly to the new attachment Hiro was showing, but at no point did he try to push him off.

"Who's this?" Yukiko asked sweetly, raising her hand, palm up in Hiro's direction.

"Oh, him? This is Hiro." He said, winking the 'yeah, that one' wink. Hiro put on the best smile he could muster.

"Nice to meet you." He said.

"Yes, nice to meet you!" she replied, obviously more giddy than before, "It's good to finally put a face to the name K-san is so fond of." Her eyes drifted down to their intertwined hands, "From the looks of it, you're pretty fond of him too! Why else would you be playing the protective boyfriend?"

Hiro blushed and pushed his gaze to the sidewalk, still refusing to let go of the manager's hand. Yukiko giggled, and looked down at her watch.

"I'd love to stick around, but I have to get back to the shop. I left it closed, and you never know when the next person with a romantic crisis will come waltzing in!" She said, making an effort to look at K.

He laughed uncomfortably. "Yeah…Romantic crisis…"

"Catch you two later!" she said, walking past them. Both of them waved to her until she was far enough away that she couldn't hear them.

"How do you know her?" Hiro asked. K could have imagined it, but Hiro sounded defensive.

"She's the owner of the flower shop where I bought your hyacinths." He answered.

Hiro's tense tone suddenly softened, as though he was relieved. "Oh, I see. She seemed nice."

K raised an eyebrow, "You think so? That's good, because for a second there, I thought you were upset with her."

Hiro laughed a little. "Upset? I just met the woman! Why would I be upset with her?"

K squeezed Hiro's hand a little tighter. "Maybe you thought that she was being too familiar with me? Or maybe something about her made you feel threatened. Really, as soon as she came up, you started to cling to me like a five-year-old and his mother."

Hiro scoffed. "No I didn't!"

"Then why are you still holding my hand?" K asked playfully.

Processing K's sentence, Hiro immediately pulled his hand back and took a few steps away from the blond. "I just…I was…"

K grinned from ear to ear, "Aww, you were jealous, weren't you? You thought that there was something going on between Yukiko and me, didn't you? C'mon Hiro, admit it."

Hiro crossed his arms and refused to look at the American. "No way! I wouldn't get jealous over something like that. I don't care who you get involved with." He was lying through his teeth, and the worst part, was that it was obvious.

The American's grin didn't falter. Hiro really had been jealous! 'I wonder if I sounded like this earlier,' he thought, remembering his reaction to Ayaka's phone call, 'I wonder if I looked this cute too.'

"What?" Hiro asked childishly, "I really don't…"

"Alright, alright." K said, trying to make amends, "Why don't we just forget about all this jealousy; both of us. I won't think about Ayaka's phone call, and you won't think about Yukiko. Let's just be friends today, okay?"

Hiro blinked a few times. "Ayaka? I thought you weren't jealous."

K sighed. "That's not the point. Can we please stop talking about Ayaka?"

"Ayaka? Who is Ayaka?" asked an eager voice from behind. Hiro and K looked at each other before turning their heads to see who was behind them. It was the woman from the café, her male partner standing a step or two away.

"Excuse me?" asked K, turning his body fully around to face her.

"Oh, pardon me!" She said quickly, "My name is Takako Takahashi, and behind me is my co-writer, Toya Wong. We write articles for _BLmagazine_."

Toya waved shyly when his name was mentioned.

K and Hiro looked at each other. Of course, why were they expecting anything other than this? It was only a matter of time before the paparazzi decided they wanted an interview.

"Really? Well then I guess you're the ones Tohma sent to follow us." The blond said dryly. Hiro nudged K in the shoulder for being so blunt. Takako didn't seem to mind.

"Why yes, yes we are!" she said happily, "Since you already know our purpose, I was wondering if you could answer our questions. We won't take much of your time, really!"

The two men glanced at each other. Hiro merely shrugged, trying to say 'let's just get it over with'. K grimaced in annoyance. He really hated having to waste time here, making up some stupid answers for a dumb article.

"Alright," said Hiro, "That sounds fine."

"Great!" Exclaimed the woman, "Here, let's sit." She said, referring to a table outside the café. All four of them took a seat; Toya getting his camera ready, and Takako whipping out a pad and paper to take notes. Hiro rested one arm on the table while K leaned back in the chair, resting his arm on the back.

"Alright, fire away," K said dully.

The blond's annoyed aura didn't do a thing to diminish Takako's good mood. She asked the questions professionally, though from some of their responses, she did feel the need to make a sound that closely resembled 'eep'. K and Hiro found themselves laughing when she did. Their little get together lasted only about half an hour, and during that period even K managed to warm up. Now, it was down to the last few questions.

"This next one is a little personal," said Takako, raising her hand to show just how little it was. Both men nodded, allowing her to go on. She nodded back as a rosy hue appeared on her cheeks. This must be quite the personal question, they both thought.

"Well…I mean…ah damn, how should I put this? Um…" she fiddled with her hands, making it look like she was washing them, "Which…I mean, when you two…"

Toya, who until this point had been sitting quietly, finally decided to join the conversation. "Basically, what my partner is trying to ask is, which one of you is the girl?"

"Hiro." K said flatly, as though it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Takako, who had taken the liberty of beating Toya to the point where he was now on the ground, turned back to the blond. "Are you serious?"

The beaten Toya called from his spot on the pavement, "Hell yes, hear that Takako? You owe me 2000 yen!"

"What? No way!"

Hiro would have paid more attention to the fact that there were bets involved with the question if he wasn't preoccupied with K' s answer. "What the hell? Why am I the catcher?" he argued, "You're the one who always has his hair in a ponytail!"

"True, but other than that, you're the one that follows all the traits of the uke," K smiled, "You're easily seduced, you're younger than me, you aided me like a wife for two months, _and_let's not forget," he said, putting a hand under Hiro's chin, tilting his face towards him, "I'm bigger than you."

Hiro had a feeling that K was implying his size in terms of something other than his height.

"I'm so sorry, that was a completely inappropriate question; I have no idea what I was thinking! We can omit that topic from our article." Takako said as she quickly scribbled the question off of her paper. "We only have one more question, and I assure you it's nothing like the last one!"

Takako and Toya had not been listening to Hiro and K's little squabble, as they had been having one of their own; something about their bet and how he shouldn't be asking for money when he was the one on the ground.

"Alright, take your best shot." K said.

"Acutally, this one is for Nakano-san." She turned her head in the guitarist's direction. "Lots of people are wondering this; how exactly did you manage to fall in love with your manager?"

K sighed in relief. This was one of those easy questions. All Hiro had to do was wrap it up with a 'these things happen' answer and they could finally get back to their day.

Hiro merely watched the woman for a moment. He held one hand in the other, stroking it a bit from time to time. It looked as though he was contemplating something.

"Well…" He started slowly, like he was still trying to get his story straight, "to be honest, I don't know…"

'Hey, that's good too!' K thought. Another easy, quick answer that didn't require much thought, and could be perceived a number of ways! Perfect!

However, Hiro wasn't done. The look on his face was very serious, and the two reporters were listening intently.

"You don't know?" Takako repeated.

"Well, I guess I shouldn't say that," Hiro started, "I know that if it wasn't for K's divorce, I wouldn't have taken a second look at him."

The other three all came to special attention, especially the blond in question.

"Hiro!" he exclaimed. Why the hell did he feel the need to make up a story? Sure, it was more believable, but damn, K wanted a warning first!

"You mean with Judy Winchester?" Takako asked, confirming the detail. K's outburst went unnoticed.

"Yep. After that little ordeal, he was a mess, really. He was always drunk, depressed, you know, the whole divorced package. And then I came along."

As Takako continued to take down notes, K was suddenly interested in the story. He was really curious as to how Hiro was going to tie the real life into the lie he was telling.

"I stuck around him for a month, basically taking care of him, cleaning, cooking, making sure he actually got up in the morning. We ended up spending a lot of time together. We learned about our lives, our pasts, likes, dislikes and the lot. We became so close that when it came time for me to leave, I felt like something was cut out of my very being."

Hiro brought a hand up to his torso to emphasize his point.

"At first, I thought 'This'll pass. I'm just used to his company'. I felt lonely and unhappy, like there was something missing. Yet, everyday, when I got to be with him at NG, those feelings went away, and I was happy again. It didn't take too long for me to figure out the problem."

The blond was now sitting completely upright and facing Hiro.

"As you can imagine, I felt awful. I wanted nothing more than to tell him what happened, but, I knew that that would ruin what we'd built. So, I kept it all to myself. Naturally, Shuichi figured it out before I even thought about telling him, so he would poke fun and try to get me to do something about my feelings. I'd let it all pass over my head, because I would never risk losing such an important person for something that _might_ happen."

Takako was starting to get weepy-eyed over Hiro's obvious heartfelt story. "And that's when he came to you on stage."

"You got it," Hiro replied, "At first, I was angry, because what he did was so sudden; because I was surprised that he could show such affection. But after a little common sense kicked in, thanks to Shuichi, I finally realized that K was feeling the same way I did."

'Angry…' K thought.

_Hiro suddenly pushed K off of him and unhooked his guitar from the speakers, a scowl on his face._

_"Hiroshi, wait I…"_

_"I don't want to hear it."Hiro shot. He rushed off stage, enraged, closely followed by Shuichi and Suguru_

'Angry out of surprise...affection…'

_"Just go." Hiro said quickly._

_K was a little taken aback by Hiro's sudden hostility, but he knew the guy well enough to understand that he didn't want to talk right now._

"After that, I went to meet him and tell him that I wasn't really angry, and that I loved him. But when I got there, he…" Hiro suddenly stopped himself. His eyes were getting glassy, but he quickly blinked it away, putting on a smile, "Well, let's just say he beat me to it."

_"K, about last night…" he started, but K interrupted him._

_"Hiro, I'm going to ask that you let me explain everything before you say anything, alright?"_

There was no way that this was happening. K found himself staring at the younger man. 'You're not lying, are you?' he thought to himself. He had to know. If what Hiro was saying was true then…

K felt like he was going to be sick. If Hiro really loved him, then he could only imagine what kind of strains that boy had been putting himself through, trying not to break. All the romantic tension, all the awkward questions, how did he do it?

"Winchester-san, are you alright? You look pale," Toya commented.

K jerked his head in Toya's direction; Hiro and Takako turned their attention to K.

"No, I'm fine. I just…I've never heard that story." He shifted his gaze to Hiro, who was now staring back at him. Gently, he reached out and grabbed one of his hands. "It makes me happy."

Cheeks getting warm, Hiro averted his gaze from the blond. "I'm glad."

"Thank you so much for your time." Takako beamed, "We have more than enough to write about. Enjoy the rest of your date!"

With Toya in tow, she stood up and bowed briefly. "I hope you'll forgive our inconvenience."

The four said their final goodbyes and Toya and Takako took their leave.

K kept his eyes on Hiro, who was waving after the two retreating bodies. He was having a heated debate with himself. Should he ask about the story, or should he leave it for later? Was now a good time? Why was it so hard to decide something so simple?

Yukiko's words suddenly came back to him.

_"Love is love K-san. And whether you like it or not, it doesn't pay attention to gender. The best thing you can do is try and see it love's way. It's worth trying, don't you think?" _

'Love is love,' he repeated in his head, 'It's worth trying…'

He was about to open his mouth and say something when Hiro finally turned back to him. "See? It wasn't so bad, though I am sick of sitting around this café…Why don't we go catch a movie?"

Hiro had said all of this really quickly, and while his body had returned to face the American, his eyes refused to follow suit. K ignored Hiro's suggestion and tried to say what was on his mind.

"Hiro, about that story…" he started. Without meaning to, he squeezed the boy's hand a little harder, "Why did you make it sound so…"

Hiro pulled his hand away swiftly and brought it to his chest. "Can we please not talk about it?"

"Why not?" K asked, being a little more pushy, "I want to know about it! It sounded so real…"

"Well, it wasn't, alright?" Hiro almost yelled, "I…I froze at the question, so I just kept as close to what happened as possible…I was too surprised to come up with something more creative."

K pressed on. "But all those things happened! You got angry, whenever I kissed you without warning, I cut you off when you came to see me…It just makes so much…!"

"K!" Hiro shouted. The American stopped mid sentence, mouth still open. "Just…let's just go. Please? I'm sorry if that lie made you uncomfortable. I'll just keep it short and sweet next time, alright?"

A cool breeze swept by the two men, who were now staring at each other. K could see the pleading in Hiro's eyes. 'Don't make me tell you!' they screamed, 'I don't want you to leave me!'

'Why are you so afraid?' K thought, 'Why can't you just tell me?' He wanted to say these things, he really did, yet something told him that now was not the time. Hiro was clearly stressed enough from talking about their history, and asking him to confess his love might just push the poor guy overboard.

Some time passed; the two men continued to stare at each other.

Finally, K sighed heavily. "Alright," He said, "I'll let it go."

Hiro exhaled heavily, all the stressful emotions retreating from his eyes and being replaced by relief. He was about to thank the blond, but was stopped when one finger was raised in front of his face.

"However," he said, "I want something in return."

The guitarist was still relived, although his heart was still beating as though he was about to jump off of a cliff. There was nothing of true importance that K could want from him, especially if it was a material possession. "That sound's fair. What do you want?"

K brought his hand back to the table top, resting it there for a moment before picking it up again and using it to stroke his chin in thought. His eyes widened in realization of what he wanted. He shifted his eyes over to Hiro and grinned like the playful character that he was.

Hiroshi suddenly didn't have such a good feeling.

"I want…you to polish my guns," he said.

The guitarist thought he was going to completely shut down under pressure, until he heard the request. Polish guns? Was that really it? "Are you serious?" Hiro asked.

K nodded, "Dead serious."

A small laugh escaped from the corner of Hiro's mouth. He was expecting some rigorous task that would require sweat, labor, and a little blood. But polishing a few weapons? Was that it? Oh lucky, lucky day!

"It's a deal!" Hiro cheered. He grabbed the blond's hand and shook it passionately. To think he'd get off so easily! This was nothing compared to all the other things the American had forced Bad Luck to do. Hiro recalled one incidence where Suguru had gotten drunk and revealed some very interesting details about himself to the manager. The next day, in exchange for keeping all of his secrets, K made Suguru become his moving target for some extra shooting practice that day. Needless to say, the poor boy's been sober for seven months, and has an occasional ducking reaction whenever K stepped into the same room.

"Good!" K exclaimed in English, "Now let's get out of here. I think this place is starting to make me ill."

Hiro grinned as he stood up, "Movie time?"

"Sounds good to me," K said, doing the same.

They started down the street, both in the best mood they'd been in all day. 'Finally,' Hiro thought, 'We're at peace. No problems, no worries, and my secret is safe for another day.'

For a fleeting moment, the thought of having to polish K's prized possessions came into Hiro's head. He felt an equally quick feeling of worry, but brushed it off before it could manifest into something negative.

'There's nothing to worry about, ' Hiro thought calmly, 'It's just cleaning a few pieces of metal. How many guns could one guy possibly have?'

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**A/N**: Hah! I finally got a chance to finish it! Sure, it's midnight on a school night and I'll be tired as hell tomorrow, but by Jebus, I did it! (sigh), well that was energy well spent.

Hopefully, I'll have the next chapter of MTA up soon too! Since the midterms are present, I've got lots of free time, so I'll try and get it out there! Wish me luck on those evil math exams that only live to torture us good people of earth!

You know what would bring me some confidence? Ten reviews of course:D

And with that, I'm off!

**Edit:** Some of you might be wondering this, so I'll explain: I did delete this chapter at first, because I thought it wasn't doing well, but then I realized that even though that was TRUE...I have no time to fix it XD So, I have to leave it the way it is, and we'll just have to see what I can do with it! Ah well, please review and all that!


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